


Book Two: Air

by orphan_account



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:27:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 51,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22641841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Please go back and read Book 1 before continuing!Avatar Kai, now haunted by her past and her own mistakes, tries to forget as she continues on her path to save the world.  Zuko begins to question his own morality in his eternal struggle though life after several months of hunting her down.  Will the two collide once again, or can they begin find common ground?
Relationships: Zuko/Oc
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	1. Nightmares and Reflections

The Prince awoke, refreshed and relaxed. It was a pleasantly cool early autumn morning, and the windows in his bedchamber at the palace were open, making the curtains sway gracefully in the early morning breeze. After relishing in the peace and silence, he removed the silken sheets and slowly got up out of bed and walked over to his wash bowl on the other side of the room. Cupping his hands into the water, he closed his eyes and leaned his head over the wash bowl and brought the water to his face. He grabbed for the cotton towel placed next to the bowl on the table, and slowly patted his face dry. Placing the towel back in its place, he looked upward to the small mirror on the wall above the bowl. His face was exactly how he remembered it being: no ugly burn scar, both eyebrows still intact. He breathed a sigh of relief as he continued to examine himself in the mirror; it had all just been a terrible dream. He turned around to ring the bell next to the door to signal for the servants to come in and dress him, and there she was; the ghost that had been haunting him. Her eyes were glowing white, her hair wet and stuck to her face, teeth bared like a wolf. The room began to darken, the wind whipping through the curtains violently as the storm wracked the castle. He tried to run, but when she held out her hand, he was immobile. She slammed him against the wall without even touching him, merely moving her hands, and lifted him upward into the air. He screamed, but he knew no one could help him.

The Prince sat up in a jolt, gasping for air. It had been the same nightmare for a week now, but every time it was just as terrifying as before. He rubbed his tired eyes, stinging from his lack of sleep, and felt the familiar scar around his left eye.

He and his uncle had stopped by a resort in the northern Earth Kingdom. His uncle thought it would help him recover after what happened on the ship, but it appeared to be a waste of time. Both had studied waterbending techniques in depth in the years that they had travelled together in his banishment, but neither of them could figure out what she did. He remembered the whole ordeal so vividly; it wasn’t inherently painful, but he felt completely powerless. The memory continued to haunt him, affecting his mental and physical stability.

The resort had been a nice change of pace, but it was clearly time to move on. Whatever she had done to him back on the ship, he wasn’t going to get over it anytime soon. He got out of bed and hurriedly marched out to the courtyard, wanting to catch his uncle before he changed his mind. He was just wearing his sleeping trousers, not even bothering to put on a robe because of the urgency. A few of the maids giggled behind him; he paid them no mind as he walked out to his uncle, who was lying face down on one of the massage tables in the compound, surrounded by two attendants.

“Ah, good morning Prince Zuko!” He said joyfully, turning his head to the side so that he could see him. “If you want a massage, I’m afraid you will have to wait.”

“I think we’ve spent enough time here. We need to move on.”

“How have you been feeling?”

“No better than I was before.” He said flatly, crossing his arms as the masseuses returned to their work.

“You need to relax.” He tried to reiterate; he had been saying the same thing for a week. “Try and forget about the Avatar for a few days.”

“It’s my destiny, I can’t forget about it. Why don’t you understand that?” He lowered his voice and moved in closer, trying not to make a scene. “And while we’re at it, don’t you ever make a comment about her like you did on the ship. I don’t care if she’s not married or available. What if she heard you?”

“I was just surprised.” He innocently tried to explain. “She seems like a nice young lady.”

“What is wrong with you?” He was incredulous with his behavior. The Avatar was the greatest enemy of his nation, and his uncle was gossiping about her so casually like she was one of the girls at court. It was embarrassing enough that he made him put her in his room after she passed out, and now this?

“Fine, Prince Zuko,” He said, exasperated despite his massage. “You win. We will make plans to depart, as soon as I’m finished.”

He huffed and made his way back to his room. He started to get dressed, throwing on a robe, when he heard a knock on the door.

“Prince Zuko, you have a visitor.” One of the maids said from the hallway.

“Tell him to come in.” He figured it was his uncle. Instead, he heard another girl’s voice at the doorway.

“My, Zuzu, I certainly didn’t expect to find you here.”

He froze. It had been six years, but he knew that voice. She hadn’t changed at all, still calling him that stupid nickname from when they were kids. He turned around and saw his sister in the doorway. She looked the same as always, the same royal armor that they both wore with her neat little topknot and sly smile. Now that she was older, she wore a touch of red lipstick to match the red in the uniform. She wasted no time and intruded into his chamber.

“What are you doing here, Azula?”

“In my country, we exchange a pleasant ‘hello’ before asking questions. Have you become uncivilized after all these years?” She still had her usual cocky, condescending attitude as well; she hadn’t changed a bit.

“I come with a message from home.” She explained, leaning on a desk by the window. “Father’s changed his mind. Family is suddenly very important to him; he’s heard rumors of plans to overthrow him, treacherous plots. Family are the only ones you can really trust.”

He said nothing, confused at her intentions. He just stared at her, waiting for her to continue.

“Father regrets your banishment.” She softened her tone, wistfully looking out the window at the trees adjacent to his room. “He wants you home.”

He was in shock; he couldn’t believe it. Was she being serious, or was she just here to taunt him?

“Did you hear me?” She turned back to him, becoming defensive once again. “You should be happy, excited, grateful. I just gave you great news.”

Almost numb, he turned away from her and looked out the window, trying to process it.

“I still haven’t heard my ‘thank you’. I’m not a messenger; I didn’t have to come all this way.”

“Father regrets?” He asked, softly. “He… wants me back?”

“Prince Zuko, just look at the shells I found!”

He turned around to the doorway, and there stood his uncle. He looked just as surprised as he was once he saw Azula in the room with him.

“Nice to see you again as well, uncle. I was just telling Zuzu that his banishment has ended. Father wants him back home, by his side.”

He stayed stationary, still unable to respond, and his uncle did the same.

“I can see you need time to take this in.” She looked back over to him. “I’ll come to call on you later this evening. Goodbye.”

She made her way out of the room and rudely pushed past their uncle in the doorway and left him alone once again.

* * *

“We’ve been travelling all day; can’t we take a break?” Gin complained.

The trio was travelling through a thick forest somewhere in the Earth Kingdom. After Kai’s last run-in with the Fire Nation, she wanted to avoid the coast. She figured either Zhao or Zuko could be sailing close by, if Zhao even made it out of the storm. They were travelling eastward still, looking for somewhere untouched by the war where they could take the time to train and practice without interruption.

“Ok, sure.” Bato said. “Let’s make camp in this clearing up here.”

She hadn’t been able to sleep for days, and more than anything she just wanted to keep moving. But she was trying not to let her insecurity on to her friends, so she mentally agreed and rode Koda into the clearing up ahead. After pushing through the bushes, she discovered they weren’t the first people to think it was a nice place to make camp. Surrounding the clearing were red tents, and soldiers sitting by fires in Fire Nation uniforms. The group sat there for a few seconds on Koda as the soldiers began to lift their heads up from what they were doing and look back at them.

“Uh, sorry, just passing through.” She said to the Fire Nation soldiers, trying to seem as innocent as possible. They responded by grabbing their weapons. The trio hopped off of Koda and got ready to brawl.

Kai and Gin together bended a huge crack in the earth to separate them and the firebenders. The soldiers quickly raced around the crack to engage the trio head-on. One swordsman rushed at her, and she bended the earth under his foot to catch the boot to trip him. Another rushed at Gin, but she bent the metal in his sword at an angle so it couldn’t hit her, then she pushed him to the ground. Bato used the water in his canteen to grab one of the spears out of a spearman's hand from afar; once he was disarmed, he wrapped the water around his leg and pulled him over.

She heard a loud whistle ring through the forest. It sounded like a strange bird call, but it was loud and shrill. Within a moment, a group of warriors jumped out of the trees around the encampment. Some looked no older than eleven, but they came brandishing makeshift weapons and armor and joined into the fray. One positioned himself atop some supplies and started shooting arrows, taking casual trick shots at the men below. Another had twin hooked swords; he hooked them behind the ankles of several men to trip them. With the help of the bandits, the soldiers were put out of commission easily. 

“Thanks for the help.” Gin said, approaching the one with hooked swords.

“No problem. We’ve been fighting the Fire Nation here for a while. Figured you could use some help. Are you travelers?”

“Yea, we are.” Kai walked over to him. “Just trying to pass through on our way east.”

“Kai’s the Avatar.” Gin said, smiling up at the shaggy-haired bandit.

“Is she?” he said, looking her up and down. He had such a cocky grin, especially with that piece of straw in his mouth. Clearly, he liked what he saw.

“Yea, I am.” She crossed her arms and going on the defensive. There was something about him she didn’t like; she couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but she didn’t like the way he checked her out. “Look, since we don’t need your help anymore, I think its best we get on our way.” 

Bato finally made his way over to the other two. “Hey,” he said to the bandit. “Thanks again for the help. What’s your name?”

“I’m Jet. We’re the Freedom Fighters, we try and get rid of the Fire Nation where we can. I was just telling your friends here that they’re welcome to come back to our hideout. Anyone fighting the Fire Nation is welcome in our book.”

“We’d love to.” Gin said, still smiling at Jet.

“Well then it’s settled. Help us with some of these supplies and I’ll show you back.”

Some of the supplies from the Fire Nation camp were loaded on Koda’s saddle, others were carried by the Freedom Fighters. Jet led the group on foot through the forest and eventually stopped by a large tree.

“We have to live in the trees.” He explained to the trio. “It helps us stay hidden from the soldiers, but it’s also really fun.”

He grabbed a rope that was attached to the treetop fort.

“Kai, want me to show you how they work?” he asked, holding out his hand to her and raising an eyebrow, trying to keep his cocky, cool mystique.

“I’m good, thanks.” She said with a polite smirk, grabbing the adjacent rope. It immediately shot upward, pulling her up to the treetops. She almost let go with how fast it was going, but she wrapped her arm around it to hold on more securely instead. She rode it all the way up to a wooden platform in the canopy, and she safely stepped off. Within a few seconds, Jet came up with Gin in his arms. She blushed deeply as she held onto him, and she could see her reluctance as she stepped away and onto the platform.

* * *

“We’re going home,” he said hopefully, hurriedly packing his things. “After six long years, it’s unbelievable.”

His uncle stood pensively rubbing his beard on the other side of the room. “It is unbelievable.” He spoke with a monotone. “I have never known my brother to regret anything.”

“Did you listen to Azula? Father’s realized how important family is to him. He cares about me.”

“I care about you!” His uncle argued back. “And if Ozai wants you back, well, then, I think it might not be for the reasons you imagine.”

“You don’t know how my father feels about me. You don’t know anything.” He turned away from him, angry with his accusations. His uncle was always cautious, he was a former general, but he was hurt at his implication.

“Zuko,” he softened his tone. “I only meant that in our family, things are not always what they seem.”

“I think you’re exactly what you seem” He spat, turning back around and getting in his face. “A lazy, mistrustful, shallow old man who’s always been jealous of his brother.” He didn’t like fighting with his uncle, and it came out a bit harsher than he intended. But he was right, and uncle needed to hear it. Iroh could have fought for his birthright but he just gave it up; he wasn’t going to let his go, not now or ever. His father was a better man than Iroh would ever be, and a better Fire Lord. And if the Fire Lord summoned you home, you listened. He wanted to be the perfect Prince for him, as he had tried so hard to do for so long, and that required unwavering loyalty. He grabbed the bag he had pack with his things from the bed and stormed out of the room, not waiting for his uncle to respond. If he wasn’t going with him then so be it, he would go home alone.

He tried to dispel all of the awful thoughts and events from the past week from his mind as he trotted down the stone stairs toward the dock. Azula was right; it had been good news. Unexpected, but good. He wouldn’t have to worry about the Avatar anymore, and the thought of never seeing her again was a big weight off his shoulders.

“Wait!”

He turned upward to see his uncle jogging down as quickly as he could, waving as he ran with a bag over his shoulder.

“Don’t leave without me!”

“You changed your mind?” He yelled back to him as he quickly made his way to where he was standing.

“Family sticks together, right?” He said with a smile, putting his hand on his shoulder. He was still a bit upset with him, but uncle was right: family should stick together. 

He looked wistfully down at the ship in the cove. “We’re finally going home.”

The two walked down the remaining stairs on the coast, and there it was: the Royal Barge. The royal bodyguards stood on either side of the narrow dock. Standing at the top of the ramp was Azula.

_Of course Azula got the Royal flagship while I got an outdated, beat up cruiser._

He put the thought out of his mind and walked down to the dock with his uncle, between the walls of guards.

“Brother, uncle.” Azula said with a smile, holding out her arms. “Welcome.”

The two of them stood next to each other and bowed at the end of the dock. The captain was stationed to the right of the ramp, and the soldiers began to file in behind them.

“I’m so glad you decided to come.” She seemed so nonchalant as she invited them aboard. It was out of character for her to be like this, but he figured she was just happy that she didn't have to play the messenger anymore.

“Are we ready to depart, your highness?” The captain asked up to her.

“Captain," She said with a cool tone, smiling down to him, "set a course for home.”

_Home._

The captain filed onto the ramp and commanded back to the guards and crewman, and he followed behind him. “You heard the Princess: raise the anchors, we’re taking the prisoners home.”

Zuko and Iroh froze before they could reach the bow of the ship. Azula shot the captain a nasty glare.

“Your highness…I….” the captain stuttered quietly. It was a ruse.

Zuko immediately ran back up the plank and onto the ship. He shoved the captain into the water and ran up to face Azula on the deck. 

“You lied to me!” He shouted, dropping his bag. 

“Like I’ve never done that before.” She coldly teased, turning back around. She waved a finger to the two royal guards behind her, who stepped in front and faced him. They blasted dual fire at him from their fists, which he redirected around himself as he ran up the ramp. The two backed up onto the deck, and he lept in the air and simultaneously blasted the two overboard with fire from his hands and feet. It was just him and his sister now. 

He ignited short blades of fire from the back of his balled fists and stared her down. He could hear his uncle fighting the guards on the dock, throwing them into the water one by one has he took them down.

“Zuko, lets go!” He heard him shout, but he didn’t care. He was this close to going home, this close to having hope again. Of course Azula had to rub it in and ruin it all for him, like she always had.

He sliced violently at her, but he couldn’t get a hit in. She eventually caught his left wrist and threw him aside. He kept his balance, staying on his feet.

“Father considers you a miserable failure for not finding the Avatar. Why would he want you back home, except to lock you up where you can no longer embarrass him?”

He couldn’t take the sound of her voice any longer and he struck back at her, jumping in the air with his fire blades to return to the offensive. He surprised her with a blast of fire from his foot, forcing her backward. She landed on her feet as always as he slashed at her once again, but he still couldn’t land a hit on her. She span and clawed his face, digging her nails into his unscarred cheek and drawing blood. He kept it up, forcing her onto the ramp that led into the tower of the ship, but now she had the high ground. She grabbed his wrist and shot fire at his head to knock him down.

He slid down the ramp, defeated. She had only fired one shot at him, and he had lost. He knew that he was no match for her; she had always been a prodigy, and the whole family knew. Even when they were children, he could never compete with her. He looked back up the ramp, and she had began to show her true prowess. She put her index and middle finger together, waving them in an arc through the air to direct the sparks of lightning. She did the same with the other hand, drawing up her power.

At the last second, when she was about to fire directly at him, Iroh stepped in. He grabbed her hand, redirected the lightning into himself, and shot it into the cliffside. He pulled her closer, kicking her in the ribs with his knee, and then threw her over the side of the ship screaming and into the water. The two made a quick getaway, grabbing their bags and making a run off the harbor.

* * *

The three were given a wooden hut to spend the night in. It was one of the nicer ones, and of course it was positioned close to where Jet slept. They unpacked their sleeping bags for the night, and they joined the rest of the Freedom Fighters for dinner. The trio sat on one side of the table, and Jet and his closest comrades sat on the other. The others dined in the trees, on the roofs of huts, and on the planks supporting them. It made them feel like they were a part of one big, eclectic family.

“Everyone here has a story,” Jet explained to them from across the table, eating his bowl of rice. “The Fire Nation killed my parents when I was little and burned down my village, same with Longshot. Smellerbee over there lost her home when the Fire Nation seized it.”

“I know how you feel,” Gin spoke up. “The Fire Nation took my father from me, and they’re occupying my village. My brother is fighting in the war now.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” He said back to her. “Firebenders destroy everything in their path. We’re just trying to stop them here, when we can. I mean, they destroyed your people.” He said, motioning to the two waterbenders.

“Yea, they did.” She responded. “But all we can do now is try and end the war.”

“And we will. Hey, why don’t you stay with us for a while? You’re all great benders, we could really use the Avatar’s help.”

“I’m honored,” She started, trying to be polite “but we really need to keep moving. I need to keep mastering the elements if I have a chance at ending this war; we can’t stay in one place too long.”

“I understand,” Jet said. “But you can’t spare a few days to help the people now?”

“Maybe we could stay a few days?” Bato said next to her. “I mean, what’s it going to hurt?”

She looked over at Gin on her other side, who was begging her with her eyes to say yes. She was outvoted and cornered.

“Sure, a few days.”

After dinner, everyone split up and went back to their huts to sleep. Once again, she found herself restless and unable to get comfortable. After trying to relax for an hour, she got out of her sleeping bag and walked out onto the platform. She leaned on the wooden railing and stared at the waning moon and out over the treetops. So much had happened the past few weeks, it was a lot to take in. 

_You've always been strong enough to make it through whatever life threw at you, you can get through this too._

She felt like she was slipping, allowing her powers to take control of her like they had. She had no control over herself as she drowned hundreds of sailors in that storm. She should have had control over herself when he used bloodbending, but apparently she didn't.

_Is the Avatar allowed to have morality, to make their own decisions? Or am I just a slave to my fate and my own power?_

“Hey, nice night, isn’t it?”

Her intrusive thoughts were interrupted by Bato; he must not be able to sleep either. The two hadn’t spoken in private since the night she returned from being captured, but they could always tell when something was off with the other. He walked over and leaned on the railing next her.

“Can’t sleep again?”

“No.” she admitted, looking down into the forest.

“Can I be blunt and ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“I didn’t want to bring this up around Gin but… would you be this beat up about it if you didn’t think he was hot?”

“Excuse me?” She turned her head over to him, angry at his accusation, and raised her eyebrows.

“I’ve been around you long enough to know your type. And I know that firebenders go shirtless for Agni Kai; we’ve both seen them.”

She signed deeply and looked back downward into the forest below. “Ok, so he’s not completely ugly.” She admitted to him. “But even if he was, I’d still feel bad. He’s a complete ass, but no one deserves that. You’ve never had it done to you; you don’t know what it feels like to be paralyzed and controlled like a puppet.”

“No, you’re right, I don’t. Just try not to let it get to you; you did what you had to do, and you got yourself out of there. What matters is you’re back with us and you’re ok.”

He shoved her with his elbow, and she shoved him back. The two shared a slight smile and looked back up at the moon. He was right about one thing: it was a nice night.

* * *

Zuko and Iroh stopped by a creek in the moonlight to rest. They had been running for hours to get away from Azula, hoping that they had delayed her long enough to make a safe getaway. The two were out of breath, the cold night air stinging their lungs.

“I think we’re safe here.” His uncle said through the gasps, kneeling down by the creek.

Zuko didn’t say a word. He had already been banished, but now it felt final. There was no going home, there was no question about returning to his old life. All of it was gone, Avatar or not. He procured a knife from his bag; Iroh had given it to him as a present years ago. Reluctantly, he cut off his top knot and threw it into the stream, letting the loose hair frame his face. He gave the knife to his uncle, who did the same. He stared up at the moon, trying to stay strong.

 _I’ve always had to struggle and fight to survive, and it’s made me strong._ He reminded himself. _It’s made me who I am._

He had a long road ahead of him, and tonight was just the beginning.


	2. Jet

The next morning the three got to work with helping the locals. Apparently after Jet interrogated the soldiers from yesterday, he discovered that the Fire Nation was planning on burning down the forest. They wanted to flush the Freedom Fighters out of the trees to get rid of them. Gin and Kai were instructed to widen the riverbed that ran through the forest, both bending the dirt on either side of a small brook, while Bato was upstream bending more water out of the ground. The hope was to fill up a nearby reservoir as much as they could so that everyone would have the water they needed to fight the incoming fire. The two waterbenders agreed to stick around for a few days to make sure they could help fight the fire, much to Kai’s dismay. She hadn’t told Gin of her dislike of Jet and his demeanor, not that her friend would allow her. She could barely get in a word with her; she just kept going on and on about him all morning.

“He’s so kind and brave,” she swooned, bending a deeper trough for the trickling river to flow through. 

"Yup." Even giving one word answers didn't seem to do the trick.

“And I love how independent he is." Her friend continued. "And look at the good he’s doing for the people nearby.”

It had been hours of this, and she finally couldn’t take it any longer.

“Look, Gin, if I’m going to be honest, I know he’s doing good work, but I don’t really care for him personally.”

“Why? He didn’t do anything."

“No,” she said, bending another trough, “I’ve met a hundred guys just like him: he’s cocky and he won’t take a hint. He’s nothing special.”

“But persistence is sweet! Don’t you want someone that chases after you?”

“I think I’d rather be chased by an angry dragon than him.” She bended another trough, then took a short pause and looked over at her friend. “Look, I can tell you have a thing for him, but if I were you, I’d try to cut it out. We gotta get out of here in a few days, I’m not sticking around here so he can keep staring at me.”

She wasn’t really trying to start a fight, she was just tired, but that last comment really set Gin off.

“You’re just jealous of him.” She flared, taking a break from her work as well. “Look at all the good he’s doing in the Earth Kingdom. You’re the Avatar, what have you done for these people?”

“I’m doing my best here, but I never claimed to be a savior of the people. Leaning the elements is how I’m doing my part. I don’t have time to save every little village on the way.”

“Well, maybe you should. Who have you actually helped?”

She made a decent point, but what was she expecting of her? The best thing she had done for the Earth Kingdom was accidentally drown an Admiral and leave a village so that it didn’t get burned down. She was so far from ending this war, but what else could she do? This past week had been so exhausting, the last thing she wanted to think about was that she wasn’t doing enough.

“I’m not going to let a guy come between us like this.” She lowered her tone and nodded her head, trying to end the argument. “You have your opinions about him, I have mine. But let’s not turn it into a fight between us.”

Gin sighed. “You’re right. I’m sorry, that was a little harsh.”

“Yea, way harsh. But for the record,” she said, walking over to her, “you deserve better than some dude who lives in a tree and chews on grass all day.”

“Yea, I guess.”

“What do you mean ‘you guess’?”

“I don’t know.” She said, lowering her voice and looking away.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Gin just looked down at the water and shuffled her feet. “Come on, let’s take a break.” She nodded to her side of the riverbank. Gin hopped over the water with ease, and the two girls sat down next to each other in the dirt.

“It’s just never worked out with me and guys.” Gin started, looking down at her hands. “We never really had much, so I always wore old clothes and stuff. I usually just cut my hair myself. I never really got the chance to like, talk to guys when I was home and I never felt like I was… I don’t know.”

“Just because you don’t dress like the Earth Queen doesn’t mean you’re not pretty, let me start there. And have you seen yourself? You’re really cute, any guy would be lucky to have you. That, and you’re out here trying to change the world, and you’re so passionate about it. You’re also the second metalbender in history. You’re an incredible person, and not having a boyfriend doesn’t lessen that in any way.”

She cracked a little smile and brushed the hair out of her face and behind her ear. “Do you really mean that?”

“Of course I do. Didn’t Toph teach you how to tell if someone’s lying?”

She chuckled a little, finally perking up. “Yea, she did.”

“You’re going to meet someone amazing, just give it time. And don’t go begging for attention from guys like Jet, he’s not worth it.”

“You give good advice. Thanks. And I’m sorry I yelled at you; you’ve been going through it lately and I was being a bad friend.”

She knew she didn’t mean it, so she decided to let it slide. She was sixteen once too. “It’s ok. Giving advice is what the Avatar does, right? Come on, let’s see if Bato is done upstream.”

* * *

Two beggars were sitting by a street corner in the center of town. Like the other hundreds of refugees that have passed through before, they were fleeing the Fire Nation and the war. The Fire Nation had taken everything from them: their home, their livelihood, and their future. They were forced to abandon their possessions, dressing in plain, torn clothes. They had walked all the way from the Northern Earth Kingdom to a small, secluded village in the forest far from the front. There were a few soldiers milling around, but no one asked them any questions. Most just looked down mournfully, some throwing down a coin into a hat as they passed by.

“Uncle, this is humiliating,” the younger one with the scar whispered as he kept his head down. “We’re royalty. These people should give us anything we want.”

“They will, if you ask nicely."

He held out his straw hat to a woman passing by. “Spare change?” She stopped in front of him and took pity, giving a shy smile as she dropped in a copper piece. “The coin is much appreciated, but not as much as your smile.” He said with one of his own. She coyly covered her mouth with her hand and giggled at his comment, then walked away and left them alone.

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t see that.” He hissed over to his uncle, who didn’t respond.

He held out his hat to another passerby, this time a young man. “Spare change for a hungry old man?” He held up the straw hat in his hands pitifully. The man stopped in front of them and looked down at his uncle.

“How about some entertainment," He proposed, "in exchange for a gold piece?" He flashed the gold piece in question between his fingers and gave them a dastardly smile.

“We’re not performers.” Zuko answered through clenched teeth. A gold piece meant a lot to them now. It meant food that wasn’t rotten, clean water, maybe a place to spend the night. But he had to at least keep his dignity through this.

“Not professional, anyway.” His uncle said, getting up. Zuko tried to look away as his uncle gave the most embarrassing performance he had ever seen.

“It’s a long, long way to Ba Sing Se, but the girls in the city they look so-o pretty!” he sang off key, swaying back and forth in front of the man.

“We’re talking about a gold piece here, let’s see some real dancing!” He pulled out his swords and swung them at the old man’s feet as he continued to sing, making him hop around to avoid getting sliced.

“They kiss so sweet you really have to meet, the girls of Ba Sing Se!”

Keeping himself under control was immensely difficult. He ground his teeth and clenched his fists until his knuckles were white, refusing to watch his uncle humiliate himself. But he did nothing as the man laughed at his uncle, apparently pleased with his display.

“Nothing like a fat man dancing for his dinner. Here you go.” He put his swords away and tossed the coin by Iroh’s feet, making him crawl in the ground to retrieve it before walking off.

“What a nice man.” He said to his nephew, returning to his seat.

A young woman approached the beggars, waiting until the other man had left to speak to them privately.

“I’m so sorry about that, some people have no respect. He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

“No but thank you for your concern.” Iroh said to her.

“My family has a house out of town. Let me show you that people around here can be kind, and treat you to dinner."

“Sorry, but we need to be moving on.” Zuko told her, trying to get her to leave them alone.

“That’s a shame. My mother is cooking tonight, and she always makes too much roast duck.”

He could feel his stomach growling at the thought of a real meal.

“Well, if you insist.” Iroh stood up and accepted her offer before he could refute her further.

"Do you have names?" She asked.

He started to stand up and stuttered after being put on the spot. “Yes, I’m… Li. And this is my uncle, Mushi.”

His uncle gave him a stern look as they began to walk out of town.

“He is named after his father, so we usually just call him Junior.”

Zuko shot him a look back.

“Mushi and Junior, huh?” The girl said, smiling, as she led them out of town.

* * *

Bato had taken a break a while ago; he felt like something about this plan was off. He had wandered downstream to see where the water was flowing. He didn’t remember Jet ever going back and interviewing those soldiers from yesterday, they just took their supplies and ran.

After he tried to make Kai feel better last night, she had mentioned that she didn’t care for Jet. That wasn’t necessarily a reason to not trust him, but he trusted his friend’s opinion of him. When he passed his friends, he tried to stay hidden in the woods so they wouldn’t see him, trying not to be noticed. He didn’t want to arouse any suspicion until he saw what was really going on. When he made it to the end of the river, he was glad he did.

There was a large reservoir that was already full to the brim. It was being stopped by a dam, and below was the village that Jet must have been talking about. It was positioned right next to the dam.

_If the dam overflows or fails, it’ll destroy it._

He tried to get as close as possible from the ridge above the little town, but he couldn’t see any Fire Nation soldiers milling around. The town looked mostly like civilians, with some travelers passing through on ostrich-horse. There were some crates

“Going somewhere?” Jet asked him.

“Not anymore,” he responded. “Are you flooding this valley?”

“Bato, there’s Fire Nation soldiers living in that town.” He said casually, walking over to where he was standing. “We’re ridding the valley of them, once and for all.”

“There are people living there, Jet. Mothers and fathers and children.”

“We can’t win in this fight without making some sacrifices.”

“You lied to me and my friends.” He started getting angry. He couldn’t believe he’d been had by this punk.

“I knew the two girls wouldn’t understand the demands of war. They’re not like us; we’re stronger.”

“I do understand. There’s nothing you won’t do to get what you want.” It’s a good think Kai picked up on this guy last night, he is far more dangerous than any of them had realized.

“I was hoping you’d have an open mind.” He said, still casual. He took the blade of grass out of his mouth and threw it on the ground. “I can see you’ve made your choice. But I can’t let you warn Gin and Kai.” He drew his hooked swords and charged forward.

He bended the water from the lake to their left into a large stream, trying to intercept him. Jet was quick, slipping underneath of it before it could pummel him. Bato bended it back around toward himself, turning it into ice and skating onto the surface of the reservoir to avoid Jet’s attack. He made a small platform of ice to stand on, going deciding to go on the offense from afar. He bended a cylindrical column of ice upward in front of himself, slicing off thin sections with his hands and throwing them toward Jet on the bank.

“Come back over here and fight me like a man!” Jet angrily yelled from the edge of the lake as he destroyed the ice. He shattered or avoided most of them, but he sent one flying toward his foot and forced him back a step. He used that brief moment to skate himself back over to the bank. Jet saw his incoming, deciding to take a leap of faith forward to try and catch him. Bato was quicker, bending the water beneath him into another stream that sent him sailing backward.

He reached the shoreline and stopped. Jet staggered to get up, clearly the hit had knocked the wind out of him. Persistently, he regained his composure and charged again. He waited until he was close, then froze the water he was drenched in. He was frozen in place, swords in hand.

“I don’t need to fight you like a man.” Bato said, walking over to the frozen Jet. “You showed me that you’re a coward when you said you would destroy innocent people. I suggest dropping it, or else it won’t go so well for you next time.”

The waterbender left him behind, and instead jumped into the river and bended himself upstream. He had to warn his friends of what Jet’s true intentions were, and fast.

* * *

Gin finally got her alone time with Jet that she had wanted so badly. It wasn’t the romantic tryst she had been hoping for, the two were taking a much more somber walk through the woods toward a cliff overlooking the dam below. She met up with him after Bato had given her the news of his true intent; she couldn’t believe for herself that it was really true. She didn’t mention it to Jet, instead just telling him the job was done and the two waterbenders were off doing something else.

“Look down there.” He said, motioning toward the dam once they reached the cliff. “That village is crawling with Fire Nation soldiers. They’re using it as an outpost. We discovered it today while you guys were busy widening the river. You killed two birds with one stone today: not only do we have more water to fight off the fire, but if we blow the dam then we’ll get rid of the soldiers to begin with.”

She looked down into the small village by the riverbank below. It was a beautiful view from the cliff as the sun began to set over the forest.

“You know,” he said, moving closer to her, “I think we make a pretty good team. You helped fill the reservoir, I found the outpost. Maybe you could stick around for a while after we’re done?”

“I’ll think about it,” she said, giving an awkward smile back to him. “Do you really think that this is the best thing to do?”

“Gin,” he said gently, putting his hands around her shoulders, his sudden touch making her go numb. “You know that this is what’s best for everybody. We’re cleansing this valley, once and for all.”

Before she could protest any further, he moved away from her and made a loud bird whistle. It was responded by someone in the distance. She helplessly watched as a flaming arrow from one of the trees shot down toward the dam. There was big explosion followed by a loud crack as the wooden dam broke, letting the torrent spill into the peaceful valley below. The water began to engulf everything it touched, including the town. She nervously closed her eyes, hoping the carnage wouldn’t be too devastating. When she looked back down at the valley after the flood, the town had been untouched. The water roared in the stream next to it, but nothing was harmed.

“How?” Jet said in shock, staring down at the town. “Come on, we have to warn the Freedom Fighters. Those two must have stopped the water in the town, and the Fire Nation will be close by.”

“I don’t think so.” She bended the earth underneath of his feet to cement him to the ground. He grabbed his hooked swords from behind his back. She walked over and grabbed them as he swung at her, bending them around his wrists to function as handcuffs.

“How could you?” He spat. “After all the Fire Nation has done to you, you’re betraying me?”

“I can’t believe I trusted you. You’re sick, and I trusted you. I thought maybe if I talked to you about it, I could talk you out of it, but I was wrong. It wasn’t a Fire Nation camp; it was just a little village. Once Bato told me what was going on, I had to intervene. The soldiers down there assumed we were spies when we tried to tell them to evacuate, but after we showed them what was going on at the dam, they listened. We evacuated the village so no one would be hurt. My friends stayed behind and bended the water around the village, and I widened the riverbed this afternoon so that it could all flow downstream. The villagers will never know who we really were, or how their village was saved, but that doesn’t matter. This war has been hard on everyone, including them. I can’t believe you and the other Freedom Fighters want to kill more innocent people who are just trying to get through the war.”

She pointed at the ground and bended the earth around him with her finger as Jet struggled to get out of his restraint. She spelled out “ASSHOLE” in the dirt before hopping down the cliff to meet up with her friends.


	3. Old Scars

“My daughter tells me you’re refugees.” The old woman said smiling as she carried the plate of roast duck over to the table. Iroh and Zuko had arrived about an hour ago, and twilight was already beginning to set it. Their table was situated outdoors with a view of the trees surrounding the quiet little house. Zuko had felt so uncomfortable about the whole encounter, but what could he do? His uncle had drug him here, and at lease he was getting a meal out of it. Song had been harassing him since they met, asking a million questions in between helping her mother to set the table and get dinner ready, but after a while she had gotten to busy and left them alone. She sat across the table from him now, and she kept staring at him.

 _Does she know who we are? Does she know that we lied?_ He kept asking himself these questions all afternoon, but he said nothing to his uncle. 

“We were once refugees ourselves.” Song’s mother admitted, finally sitting at the head of the table once dinner was fixed. Their house was nice, they certainly didn’t look like refugees.

“When I was a little girl,” Song said as she looked over to him from across the table, “The Fire Nation raided our farming village. All the men were taken away; that was the last time I saw my father.” She slumped her head, looking down at her plate.

He had never really thought about a lot of the consequences of the war. The only time he tried to question it, half of his face was burnt off. They were always told that that they were helping the people of the Earth Kingdom with the war, that they were dirty, crude, and unrefined. He was never told about them attacking civilians.

“I haven’t seen my father in many years.” He admitted to her. At least it was one thing they had in common, and what else could you say to someone who had lost so much?

“Oh, is he fighting in the war?” She asked, more optimistic than before.

“Yea.” He said, putting down his bowl after barely touching it.

_I guess that’s one way of putting it._

They shouldn’t be here. If these people knew who they really were, they’d throw them out. They don’t deserve their kindness. 

After dinner, he excused himself and sat on their porch outside, feeling like he should isolate himself. He wanted some time to think about what they had admitted to him, and about what had happened two weeks back. The ghost still haunted him, keeping him up every night; it was exhausting enough being on the run, but it was starting driving him mad. All of this was; the homelessness, the hunger, thinking about the war. But in this house, he could never get a moment’s peace.

“Can I join you?” Song asked. She didn’t wait for an answer, walking out from the doorway over to where he was sitting on the porch.

“I know what you’ve been through. We’ve all been through it.” She sat down on his left, looking over at him. “The Fire Nation has hurt you.” She said softly. She slowly reached out her hand toward his face. Without looking at her he grabbed her wrist, not too hard, but enough to make her remove her hand. It had been nearly seven years now, he lost track of the exact date of the anniversary a few years ago, but he wouldn’t let anyone else touch it besides himself. A few other women had done the same thing she did, trying to get closer or sympathize with him. But he didn’t want sympathy: he wanted to go home. Except now there was no home to go back to now, just memories of when things were better.

“It’s ok.” She said, looking away from him and out into the forest. “They’ve hurt me too.” She adjusted her posture to prop up her leg and pulled up her pant leg over her knee. He took his attention away from the quiet trees and looked down at her leg; it was covered in winding burn scars, all the way up to her knee.

He wanted to say something, anything, but what could you say to someone like that? ‘I’m sorry’ doesn’t really cut it. He wasn’t directly responsible for it, but he might as well have been. When he was lounging around the palace as a child, she had her home burned down and her father killed, and it was probably at the bequest of his grandfather. All he could give her was a sympathetic look, as she continued to talk to him.

“I know you don’t think there’s any hope left in the world, but there is.” She rolled down her pant leg. “The Avatar has returned.”

Hope. That’s what she wanted, not a ‘sorry’ or sympathy. That was what she was trying to get at, and what she was trying to push onto him all day. The Avatar never brought him any hope. She was a monster without a cage; an unstoppable, unrelenting force. No wonder the Avatar was seen as such a great threat to the Fire Nation for so many years, and why his father had sent him on a folly after her. He trained for years and could barely touch her when they fought. And yet, she had a human side too, when she wanted to be nice. 

“The Avatar is a healer.” He told her. “You might not have to keep living with your scar.”

She seemed to perk up after that. At least he could give her something to be hopeful about, if that's what she was after. After they talked, he met his uncle out at the front of the house to thank them before they left.

“Thank you for the roast duck, it was delicious.” His uncle said, rubbing his stomach as he accepted the rations the old woman gave them.

“You’re welcome. It brings me joy to see someone eat my cooking with such gusto.”

“Much practice.” Iroh assured her with a smile. He bowed to them with his uncle, upping his left hand around his right fist like the people of the Earth Kingdom did. He and his uncle promptly walked through the gate and away from the house. He paused at the barn, where an ostrich horse was tied to a post, nibbling on grass. He turned around, making sure the family had gone back inside and snuck over to it, untying it from the post and grabbing the lead around its beak.

“What are you doing?” Iroh angrily whispered to him as he mounted the ostrich horse. “These people just showed you great kindness.”

“They’re about to show us a little more kindness.” His uncle gave him a disapproving scowl as he rode over toward him. “Well?” He asked, holding out a hand toward him. Iroh lowered his head in shame and took his hand, mounting the ostrich horse behind him. The two rode off in silence into the night, on the hunt for a nice place to sleep far away from the two women that just helped them.

* * *

“I told you guys that going to the Serpent’s Pass was a bad idea. Everyone says it’s cursed for a reason.”

Since Kai wouldn't find a firebending teacher anytime soon, the trio had decided to pick mini-vacations to kill some time before finding an airbending master. Bato had been the first to request one: his was to see the infamous serpent in the Serpent’s Pass. Being a waterbender, he figured it would have been fun, but the serpent didn’t seem to like people very much. After an exhausting battle to get out of there and live, they ended up in a bar somewhere near Full Moon Bay.

“Ok Gin,” Kai stubbornly conceited. “Since we completely ignored your warning, you can pick the next mini-vacation.” She took their map of the eastern Earth Kingdom out of her bag and unfurled it onto the table, setting their drinks on the corners so it could be examined without folding.

“Oh, the Misty Palms Oasis, that sounds fun.” Gin chimed.

“I don’t know,” He said, “It looks far. We’d have to go around the desert.”

“Excuse me,” a stranger approached their table, wearing simple red clothing and a topknot; Fire Nation style. “I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation. If you’re looking for excitement, look no further.” He handed Gin a flyer with a smile, and she put it on top of the map on the table.

“A circus?” she asked, puzzled.

“Oh, not just any circus!” The man said excitedly. “The greatest circus in the world! Death-defying stunts, animals the likes of which you have never seen, and for the ladies: the strongmen!” He pointed to the man lifting weights on the flyer.

“It’s actually not that far from here.” She said, reading it to her companions.

“I do hope you decide to come on by! I’m one of the animal trainers, and we have a very exciting assortment performing with us this evening. I’ll leave you alone for now, but I hope to see you all there tonight.” The stranger gave them a big cheesy smile, then walked out of the bar.

“That guy was weird.” He said. “Do you really want to go see a circus?”

“Actually, I do.” She said smiling, “I’ve never been to one.”

“Alright. Weird smiling guy’s circus it is.” Kai said, carefully removing the drinks from the corners of the map and folding it back up.

* * *

Zuko waited until his uncle was asleep. They found a little cave, off the beaten path, that they were resting in for the night. The ostrich horse they stole was tied to one of the trees nearby. He couldn’t sleep, again; but something was really eating at him tonight. Maybe it was that girl forcing him to open up about his past. Maybe it was remembering the Avatar again, and how much of a failure he had been in capturing her. It was probably about the war. But he was restless and angry.

He donned his black clothes, grabbed his mask and swords, and set out. He walked through the trees and made his way back to the village. He jumped onto the rooftops of the buildings and looked around for his prey. Then, he saw him, walking into a dark alleyway across the road.

_Perfect._

He hopped over a few buildings and across the road to get closer to him; he was right above him now. The man must have heard him, so he turned around and looked back at the road.

“I know you’re there.” He said to no one. 

Zuko jumped into the alley where it was dark, behind some boxes. The man drew his swords and continued walking toward him. When he was about to pass, he slashed at the man’s feet. He jumped, and Zuko kicked him in the chest to knock him backward. He fell to the ground, dropping one of his swords. Zuko stood over him and pointed one of his swords at his throat, using the blade of the other to pry the sword out of the man’s hand. He looked terrified at the unexpected defeat, trying to crawl away from the blade at his throat.

“Please, don’t kill me.”

He could have killed him. He humiliated his uncle, a member of the royal family. He made him scramble on the dirty street for a gold piece. Instead, he cut the coin purse on his belt with his sword, grabbed it, then disappeared into the night.

* * *

The trio made their way into the edge of the desert, southward of the bar they had visited after the serpent attack, to the gigantic circus tent. Gin wanted the works: popcorn, peanuts, cotton candy. She took a tour around the whole tent, dragging her friends by their hands through the crowds before the show to make sure they saw everything. They managed to get seats relatively close to the front, and Bato sat between his friends to enjoy the show.

 _As long as we keep a low profile, no one will even notice we’re here._ It was a Fire Nation circus, but that guy at the bar didn't seem to recognize them. They were probably fine.

The lights dimmed, and the announcer came onto the stage in the center.

“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages. Before we begin our show tonight, I would like to direct your attention upward to the box seats.” He waved his hand upward, and the spotlight followed. “We have a very special guest this evening, Princess Azula of the Fire Nation!”

He paused for effect, the princess in the box waving her hand dismissively to the cheers from the audience. Her royal highness was accompanied by another girl, dressed in black, who sat next to her up at the top of the tent.

“The presence of the Fire Lord’s daughter is an honor!” he said, dramatically bowing to her on the stage.

The trio gave each other a tentative, nervous look.

“I didn’t know scarface had a sister.” Gin whispered to her friends while clapping along with the crowd as the announcer continued to speak.

“Hopefully she doesn’t know who we are.” Kai whispered back. “If we leave now it would just look suspicious. Let’s just stay here and stay quiet and pretend to be normal.”

The first performer was a tightrope walker and balancer. She balanced herself in the middle of the highwire on a small metal platform. Slowly, she contorted herself so that she was standing on her hands, the crowd cheering. Suddenly, the ringmaster called down to some of the men below, who set her safety net on fire. The crowd continued to cheer.

Bato watched the poor girl in horror as she stayed motionless above the flames. After she got over her initial shock, she continued the routine by balancing herself on one hand. The ringmaster called down again to the men below, who scrambled over to the animals that were waiting on the outskirts of the tent and released them all onto the floor. They rampaged, fighting each other and shaking the tent. He watched as the poor girl tried to remain calm and steady. Suddenly, a massive elephant mandrill slammed into one of the poles that supported the highwire. The girl stumbled on her hands and began to slip.

Without even thinking, Bato stood up and bended the water out of his canteen and threw it onto the net to catch the slipping performer. It wasn’t enough to put out all of the flames on the net, but at least the middle was extinguished. It was charred badly, so who knew how useful it would be to actually catch her, but when he looked back up at her she had caught herself and regained stability. However, now the entire crowd was staring at the waterbender that had put out the fire.

He awkwardly smiled and looked around the stadium. Nervously, he grabbed some of the peanuts he was eating and started to juggle them. Everybody booed and threw the circus food down at him, and he could hear the murmurs from the crowd.

“Did he just bend the water?”

“Wait, isn’t that the Avatar?”

“Uh, Bato, let’s scram.” Kai said, starting to get up out of her seat. Before they could get out of there, the fire princess shot bright blue fire down at them from the box. Kai bended the water out of her own canteen to put it out before it could hit them, and the three of them ran for the hills. They shoved their way through the crowd, who were also running to try and avoid getting hit with fire themselves. Eventually, they shoved themselves out of the circus tent and were outside. Thankfully, the commotion from the crowd hid them well enough to escape from the circus safely. They hadn’t taken Koda with them to blend in and were starting on their quiet walk home.

“I guess crazy runs in the royal family.” Gin joked as they walked down the path they had taken to get there.

“Speaking of crazy, what the hell were you thinking?” Kai looked over at him, only half angry with his stunt.

“I don’t know! I thought she was going to fall, I just sort of did it.”

“I didn’t know you could juggle.” Gin said, changing the subject.

“Yea, I leaned it a while ago because I was trying to impress a girl.”

“Did it work?”

“No.”

“To be fair, it didn’t work because she wasn’t looking for a relationship at the time, which I can get.” Kai reminded him. “Changing the subject back to the Fire Princess. I’ve got to say; blue fire is pretty sick. How does she do that?”

“It’s a lot less cool when its being shot at you” he said back to her. His friends could tease him all they wanted, he just hoped that poor performer was ok.

* * *

The expensive carriage strolled down the dirt road leading away from the city on a sunny spring afternoon. The weather had just begun to change, and whoever the rich guy was he must have wanted to go for a stroll. The Blue Spirit watched from the shadows of the trees that lined the road, waiting for the best time to strike. He quickly dispatched the two carriage drivers without even cutting them and hopped on top of the carriage. Tentatively, the occupant inside opened the door and held out a box. He grabbed it and jumped off of the carriage and ran back into the forest before he could be seen.

Returning to camp, he stashed his mask and swords in a bush nearby along with box. He took a few coins from it and walked over to the cave where he and his uncle were staying.

“A very nice nobleman gave me some change when I was passing by the road.” He said, holding up the coins between his fingers to show his uncle.

“How kind.” He said, flatly. He picked up his expensive china teapot that Zuko had stolen a few days ago off of the fire and began to pour him a cup.

“How do you like your new teapot?” He asked, sitting next to his uncle around the fire.

“To be honest with you, the best tea tastes delicious whether it is poured from a porcelain pot or a king’s cup.” He poured the two a cup and continued his lecture. “I know we have had some difficult times lately; we have had to struggle just to get by. But there is nothing to be ashamed of. There is a simple honor in poverty.”

Zuko turned his head away. “I have no honor without the Avatar.” He had done some thinking about it since they had dined with those Earth Kingdom girls a week back. Truly, he was nothing now; less than nothing. He was the same as all of the other refugees fleeing the war. So why shouldn’t he be more comfortable in his exile? He was tired of begging, why did he always have to struggle?

“We must not follow the dark road to despair. Allow yourself to walk it, and you surrender to your lowest instincts. In the darkest times, hope is something you give yourself; that is the meaning of inner strength.”

He looked back at his uncle again, and the two shared a moment of penitent silence. Zuko stood back up and walked back into the forest, alone. He just kept walking, not bothering to stop; he just wanted to get away. So much had happened in the past few weeks it was overwhelming. Sleep was still just a memory, and even if he could sleep, he didn’t want to. He never wanted to see her again, but without her he had nothing. He had no hope of getting back his life or the respect of his family, and no drive to do anything besides surviving.

There was that word again: hope. What did he have to be hopeful about? Everyone around seemed to be trying to push him into believing in some savior, someone that would erase all of it and make everything better. He wasn’t a child, he didn’t need someone to look up toward when it got rough, he had to go out and get what he wanted himself. Maybe that was the key he was missing here, maybe he should go out alone. His whole life he always had someone watching over him, trying to steer him in whatever direction they wanted. Maybe being alone would help him clear his head and give him the peace he needed. Maybe he needed to start looking inward instead of looking outward for meaning in his life.

After wandering around for a while, he made a loop back to the camp and saw his uncle sitting where he was before.

“I thought a lot about what you said earlier.” He said to him, not bothering to sit down.

“That’s good!” He said with a slight smile.

“Now that the goal isn’t to capture the Avatar, I don’t think we have much to gain by travelling together anymore. I think I need to figure this out on my own.”

“Oh.”

 _This is harder than I thought it was going to be._ He thought after seeing how disappointed his uncle looked. He didn’t know what else to say to him now.

“Safe travels, uncle. Our paths will cross again.” He grabbed his bag from the ground and stared on his path.

* * *

Kai was desperately trying to meditate again. It had been a few days since the encounter with the princess, and so far nothing bad had come of being exposed at the circus. Even still, she was restless. Meditation was supposed to bring clarity, but all that came to her mind were old memories. It seemed like the better option to lying in her awake all night without sleeping, so she kept at it. Maybe if she tried hard enough, she could get back to the Spirit World. So far, she had no luck. Memories of her life back at the North Pole kept coming back up to the surface, memories that she had tried so hard to forget.

“Kai, I’m sure you’re wondering why I had you stay late today after the lesson.” Her master said just wanted to talk, but these talks had been more frequent lately. She was rarely ever stern, always finding something good even in the mistakes to help her students learn. She folded her gnarled hands in front of her as the two spoke.

“I’m really sorry, I know I’ve coming in late.” She tried to explain, not wanting to disappoint her. She was so young back then, her hair looped on either side of her face and pulled back like the other girls wore, still wearing her little blue kimono underneath her old adirondack that her mother helped her make.

“I actually wanted to talk to you about something else.”

The old master motioned for her so sit down. They were meeting in private in her office, long after the other girls had left for the day. It was a dark winter night, the full moon high and reflecting its cold light through the window of the small room, reflecting off of Aok's long silver hair.

“You are an extremely gifted waterbender.” Her master said, sitting across from her. “You lack focus, but you are still a talented healer and one of my best students.”

“Thank you.” She said quietly, looking down at her boots.

“I wanted to meet with you tonight because I see myself in you. Your talent is wasted on what we’re practicing in class. I think you need more advanced techniques to keep yourself busy.”

Kai perked up. “Of course, Master Aok. I would be honored.”

“Good.” Her master said with an approving smile. “Then we will begin this evening. Be aware, what I am about to teach you must not be repeated. You must not share your knowledge of this; it is between you and I. None of the other students are ready to learn these techniques quite yet.”

“Yes Master, of course.” She was so excited and hopeful, completely unaware of what was about to happen.

“Good.” She got out of her chair and walked over to a cage that was covered and sitting on her desk. “Unfortunately, we cannot practice using the standard mannequin either, we must use something living.” She unveiled the cage to reveal a little snow rat. “For this technique, you must feel the power that the full moon gives you. Feel it within your body, flowing through your blood. Watch as I demonstrate.” She watched as her master jerked her hand upward in an abnormal form, going from and open palm to bringing her fingers together. The mouse in the cage began to squeak as she opened her palms facing the mouse.

Horrified, she watched helplessly as the mouse was lifted in the air inside its tiny cage as Aok moved her hand upward. It was squeaking furiously, it sounded like it was being tortured.

“Stop, you’re hurting it!” she could feel herself tearing up as her voice cracked. She couldn’t move from where she sat, paralyzed with anxiety and fear of what she was witnessing.

Her master released the mouse. It fell to the floor of its cage and cowered in the corner to hide itself from further practice.

“This technique involves bending the blood inside animals.” Her master turned around to her. Her tone was harsh and cold, much different from the kindness she always exuded. “You must learn to become apathetic when you are practicing.”

“No, I’m not doing it.” She shook her head as she tried not to cry and to keep her voice steady, gripping her hands onto the seat of the chair. The only person who she had ever looked up to just punched her in the gut. She had never felt so betrayed and scared.

“Kai, we can use this to save lives!” she implored. “What if someone comes in with severe internal bleeding that would be difficult to treat? What if we need to stint blood away from a laceration? Think of the benefits of learning to do this.”

She looked over at the little mouse, hiding in its corner. She looked over at her master, who she trusted deeply, her wrinkled face bright and eager.

“Ok, I’ll give it a try.”

_Ok, I think that’s enough for one night._

Kai finally decided to give it up and close her eyes. She got back under her sleeping bag and tried to calm down and get some rest. Before she could even close her eyes and get settled, she was interrupted.

“Everyone up! Something's coming!” Gin shouted from her tent.


	4. The Chase

Zuko’s path alone had taken him through the heart of the front on his way eastward. He had seen the scars that the war had left on the land for himself; areas that had previously been forested were now grassy plains from of extensive burning, and old trenches that marred the earth like roads. He saw new battles with freshly charred land, broken Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation banners, and salted earth; and old battles that were barely evident without the circular boulders thrown by earthbenders long ago that were now covered in mosses and lichens. He went past a small camp of refugees three days ago. The other refugees in the camp looked just like him, with burn scars of their own and dirty old travelling clothes. They had no food or water to give him, but they told him that they were headed for Ba Sing Se, for a better life away from the war. 

“My wife is pregnant, you see.” The husband told him. “We want to make sure that she’s safe, and that the baby is safe, behind the walls of Ba Sing Se.”

The hunger had been the most difficult part. He thought he had stolen enough money to be comfortable with, but there had been no place to spend it. The heart of the Earth Kingdom was completely devoid of life; all the villages had been burned and destroyed, and all the people were gone. There were no trees for birds to sing in and no pastures for animals to graze in so he couldn’t hunt, not that he knew how to anyway. He was so desperate that he tried fishing in one of the rivers he saw, but there were no fish large enough for a man to eat. At least the river water kept him going for a few more days. When he saw his reflection in the stream he barely recognized himself: he had lost weight, making his dirty face look thinner and sallow; he pulled his long hair up into a large topknot instead of letting it down, save for the short strands that now framed his face. The one thing that had stayed the same was his scar; his own personal reminder of his greatest mistake, and the reason for his continued suffering. The only comfort he had left was his firebending, which staved off the cold at night. 

The lack of food, water, and harsh sunlight was maddening. It was still only spring, but the afternoon heat had began to fry his mind. Sleep was coming easier now than before, but only because of sheer exhaustion. The nightmares had become part of the routine and no longer shocked him like they did before. His dreams kept drifting back to the past, about home, when it really was a home. He saw his mother frequently, playing with him as a child, and the villa they grew up in adjacent to the palace. It had been so long since he’d seen her, he had nearly forgotten what her face looked like, but he never forgot her kindness. He always remembered what she said to him the day he embarrassed himself in front of his father and grandfather in the throne room, right before she left.

“No, I loved watching you.” She held him as he shed a tear when he fell after trying to show them that he was just as capable as his sister. “That’s who you are, Zuko, someone who keeps fighting even though it’s hard.”

It was particularly difficult to stay conscious the longer he traveled; he was so lightheaded, that he nearly fell off of his ostrich horse more than once. It took all his energy to keep himself awake and moving every day. After days of travelling alone after leaving the refugee camp, he finally reached village. It had clearly been scarred by the war as well, the earthen buildings disheveled and barely standing, but at least it was occupied. He managed to get off of the ostrich horse and walk over to a small merchant’s tent erected in front of a crumbling building.

“Give me a meal, some water, and feed.” He said to the merchant standing behind a counter, giving him some of the money he had stolen. The shopkeeper nodded as he retrieved what he had asked for. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two children crouched next to the building. One giggled and threw an egg behind where he was standing, then ran off.

“Did you see who threw that egg?” a surly man came up behind him and asked.

“No.” he lied, standing firm with his hands on the counter.

Another man grabbed his shoulder, and he turned around to face them. Sure enough, one of them had an egg cracked on their shoulder.

“We don’t like troublemakers around here. We’re Earth Kingdom soldiers, protecting you from the Fire Nation, and this is the thanks we get?”

“Maybe a chicken flew over your head.” He said, starting to get annoyed. Finally, the merchant placed the items he had requested on the counter. Before he could take them and leave, one of the men took them instead.

“Thank you for your contribution to the war effort.” He said with a snide smile, leaving Zuko empty handed. He didn’t have the energy to fight them.

“I’m sorry about them.” The merchant said after they had walked away. “They go around pretending to be soldiers, but they’re really just thugs. The real soldiers are off fighting in the war.”

He began to walk back to his ostrich horse, empty handed. The boy he had seen earlier came up to him.

“Thanks for covering for me.” He said. Zuko ignored the child and mounted the ostrich horse.

“Hey, wait!” the kid says, following him as he began to leave town. “Let me take you back to my farm. We have food for your ostrich horse. Think of it as a thank you for not ratting me out.”

Zuko felt another pang of hunger and sighed. “Sure.”

* * *

The trio had been riding for the past few hours through the night. They didn’t get a chance to see what was chasing them, but Gin and Kai could both feel it in the ground. Whatever it was, it was large and noisy, and coming straight for them. They had made sure to cover their tracks and snuff out the fire like the usually did, but somehow, they were still discovered. Around midnight, they had found another place to camp for the night. They stopped and set up their sleeping bags, too tired to make camp again.

“What do you think that was?” Bato asked the two girls.

“I have no idea," Gin said, rolling her sleeping bag out. "But I don’t want to find out. There are rumors of all kinds of weapons the Fire Nation has at their disposal. Maybe it was one of them.”

“Lets just try and get some sleep.” Kai said, exhausted. “Hopefully we shook it off our trail.”

They unrolled their sleeping bags in a line together, with Koda stationed by their feet. Gin kept her hand out of her sleeping bag and on the ground, wanting to make sure they weren't surprised. With the added exhaustion of going to bed late at night, Kai still had trouble sleeping. After about an hour of tossing and turning, she was finally drowsy and comfortable.

“It’s back!” Gin shouted, sitting up and rousing everyone once again.

She decided to reach out with her own earthbending, not wanting to get out of bed. She placed a hand on the ground and tried to feel for it. She too could feel something, something big, coming directly at them. Hating that she was right, she reluctantly got out of her sleeping bag and started rolling it up. Bato was even less happy about the situation, groaning in his sleeping bag and squirming further inside of it, not wanting to get up.

“Come on,” she said, giving him a nudge with her foot. “We have to get out of here.”

“Maybe we should just stay and wait and see who it is.” His said, his voice muffled through the sleeping bag.

“I don’t think I want to take that chance.” She said as she threw her sleeping bag onto Koda’s saddle, which woke her up. A low growl emanated from her throat as she reluctantly got to her feet.

“I know girl.” She gave her a scratch behind the ear to calm her and a pat on the head, wiping her hand on her pants to remove her shed hair before helping Gin load everything up.

_Wait a minute._

“We’re sure we’ve been covering our tracks, right?” She looked back at where they had come through the woods, and she couldn’t see any. There was a broken branch or two where they had traveled through, and she could see a few silvery white hairs glistening in the moonlight.

“Yea, I think so.” Gin said, loading up her stuff.

“I think I figured it out, look.” She said, running her fingers through Koda’s fur and pulling out more of her shedding hair.

“Tracking the hair? That’s smart.” Bato commented, finally getting up.

“Come on, let’s get going. Maybe if we can get some of this loose hair off her then we can lead them off course.”

The three of them hopped back on Koda and started riding again. It was slower going this time around since she was so tired, but any distance they could get away from whatever was chasing them the better. They traveled all night, finally reaching a stream when the sun had begun to creep over the horizon. The two earthbenders made sure that whatever was chasing them was far away, and all three of them gave Koda a long bath. They brushed her fur and tried to get out as much of the loose hair that they could. They collected the wet hair into a satchel, which Kai took, and they agreed to split up.

“I’m going to travel upstream with this.” She told her two friends, holding up the satchel. “You guys split off with Koda and meet me at the mouth of the river once you’re sure that we’ve shaken them.”

She said goodbye to her groggy friends and skated up the river.

* * *

The young boy led the Zuko back to his family’s farm. It was well after midday, with the harsh sun just beginning to fall and cool the landscape. He dismounted from his ostrich horse near the barn, gave the lead to the Lee, and the boy’s father came over to greet him.

“I’m Lee’s father, Gansu.” He shook his hand. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before.”

“Just passing through.”

“Dad, you should have seen it!” Lee came back over after putting the ostrich horse in a stall and putting down some feed. “He stood up to the soldiers.”

“Any man who stands up to them is welcome in my home.” He said with an approving nod. “Won’t you join us for dinner?”

“I couldn’t.”

“I understand, you’re an honest man. We have work around here if you’re willing.”

He thought it over for a moment. “Sure.”

“Work for a little, then we’ll eat.” The boy’s mother said, coming out from the house to greet him. “What did you say your name was?”

“Its…uh.” He didn’t want to use Li again because it was the boy’s name, and he was too tired to think of something better besides Mushi.

“He doesn’t have to say his name.” Gansu interjected. “What matters is he’s willing to help, and he’s brave enough to stand up to those thugs in town that parade around as soldiers. The real soldiers, like Lee’s brother, are out fighting in the war.”

He spent the evening sweeping the barn with Lee, cleaning up the hay and feed that the animals spilled. The family ate dinner together, and they allowed him to spend the night in the barn. He piled up some of the hay to made a bed for himself. It was well after dark when they went to sleep after cleaning up dinner, and even though he was sleeping in hay, it felt like a down mattress beneath him. With a full stomach, water, and a place to sleep, he quickly let his exhaustion take over and relaxed. From where he was sleeping, he could peek the moon’s rise in the sky through the barn door.

 _Its full tonight._ He thought to himself in his drowsy state, covering his eyes with his forearm to avoid its bright light. _I keep having bad luck during a full moon._

Sure enough, after a few minutes he heard the barn door creak. Slightly lifting his arm from his eyes, he peeped Lee walking in. He tiptoed over to his things, quietly taking his swords before slipping back outside. Although tired, he decided to get up and follow the boy outside to see what he was doing. In an open field outside, Lee was swinging around the two swords aimlessly, hacking at a scarecrow and at dead weeds from the previous season. He leaned on the fence and watched the child play for a moment and reminisced about when he did the same when he was a young.

“You’re holding them the wrong way.” He said, getting the child’s attention. He walked over to him, and the child looked down in disappointment and held out the swords for him to take back. Zuko took his swords back and demonstrated.

“These are dual swords.” He explained, putting the two blades parallel in front of his face. “Two halves of a single weapon.” He slashed with the right in a fluid swipe, then took a step forward and slashed with the left. He gave them back to the kid, who tried to mimic what he had done. He was clumsy, but his movements were more connected and fluid rather than hack and slash. Zuko gave him an approving nod, and the child gave him a toothy smile at him and handed him his swords back. He pulled out a dagger, one that Iroh had given him years before when he was in Ba Sing Se. He never used it much anymore, favoring his swords and his bending instead.

“You want to give this a try?” He said, giving it to the kid, who accepted it with a toothy smile. Lee removed the knife from the holder, examining it in the moonlight. 

“Read the inscription.” He said as the child ran his fingers along the lettering on the blade.

“Made in Earth Kingdom.”

“No, the other one.”

The boy turned the blade over in his hand. “Never give up without a fight.”

He stayed with the boy for a while longer, teaching him how to use it. He let him keep the knife; he had at one time considered it his most prized possession, but times were changing. He was no longer a Prince who had need for fancy weaponry; he was a rogue on the run from the Fire Nation, and he had to carry everything he owned on his back. The least he could do was make a young child smile.

“You would really like my brother, Sensu.” The boy explained as they walked back to the farm together. “He used to show me stuff like this all the time.”

* * *

Bato managed to make it across the river with Koda and Gin and into the adjacent forest. Instead of riding Koda, the two agreed that they had better walk it. Everyone was exhausted from barely sleeping the previous night and moving slow, including their pet. They eventually made it to another river and decided to cross it to put even more distance between them and whoever was after them. He bended an ice bridge for him and his friend to cross safely while Koda swam. They were about halfway across when he heard breaking branches from the forest behind them. Looking back, he saw two riders on mongoose lizards coming toward them, fast. He quickly skated across the ice he created on the river and made sure they were all across before destroying the bridge.

They had all made it across the river safely and faced their attackers. The two riders didn’t even slow down as they neared the river. Their mounts crossed the water with ease, running across the surface without dropping the riders. He bended the water on his side of the river into a large wave and pushed it toward the two to trip them up, but to no avail. The two jumped from their lizards when the wave came and landed on his side of the shore. 

The two were both young girls, one with long black hair tied in two buns and one with a long brown braid down her back. The girl with braided hair came for him, cartwheeling out of the way out of the water he whipped at her until she was right in front of him. She was unarmed except for her fists, jabbing at him left and right. He managed to turn and avoid her initial attacks, bending more water from the river toward her to try and throw her off. She was too agile, dodging it with ease with a cartwheel backward. He threw shards of ice at her feet to try and knock her down, but she jumped and cartwheeled away again. Seeing her acrobatics in action, it finally dawned on him where he had seen her before.

“Hey, wait a minute, you’re that girl from the circus.”

He was so exhausted that he accidentally let her get close. She took a quick jab at his right shoulder and his whole arm felt tingly and went limp. He used his left and sent another burst of water toward her, but it missed her once again. She jabbed at his other shoulder and his other arm went numb. Gin finally stepped in, bending the earth around the girl’s feet into pegs that moved up and down, trying to knock her off her balance. It still didn’t work, and she used them instead to leap her way over to her and jab her arms as well, taking her down. It looked like Gin had taken out the girl in black, pinning her to a tree with her own metal knives.

“Sorry that it had to be like this waterbender, but Azula was a little more persuasive.” The acrobat called over to him as she tried to free her friend by pulling out the knives from the tree. Koda finally came to their rescue, slamming the acrobat into the stream nearby. She was quickly carried by the current, being washed downstream with a shout. He and Gin managed to limp their way over to Koda, barely being able to hold onto her as she rode them away from the two girls.

"What was that?" She asked him.

"She's a Chi blocker." He explained. "I had a friend who used to do it. You'll get your bending back in an hour or so. Is it just me, or was that girl with the black hair really cute?” He turned to his friend as Koda began to lead them away. “Can you let me fight her next time?” She rolled her eyes at him and they pressed on.

* * *

The next morning, the family said goodbye to Zuko and gave him some food for the journey. Just as he was leaving and thanking them for their generosity, the soldiers from the day before rode to their farm.

“I’m sorry to break the news to you, but we just got some word from the front. Sensu’s battalion has been captured by the Fire Nation.” The soldiers didn’t look very disappointed, smirking at each other when their leader broke the news. “You hear what they do when they capture Earth Kingdom forces?” the leader turned around and asked one of his men.

“Way I heard it, they dress them up in Fire Nation uniforms and sent them to the front of the line, unarmed.” He spat on the ground as he regaled the story with an uncaring glare.

“You had better watch your mouth on my land.” Gansu said, trying to hold back his anger. The soldiers laughed at him.

“What are you going to do, old man?” He approached him, ready to fight. Zuko took the initiative and rode his ostrich horse in between the two, separating the man who had sheltered him from harm. Zuko said nothing; he didn’t reach for the swords on his back, and neither did they. “Eh, you’re not worth the trouble. Come on men, let’s leave these pigs to their filth.”

The soldiers turned around and started to leave without any more trouble. Zuko held his position in front of the family and watched them begin to ride away. Lee, on the other hand, had a different idea. He pulled out the knife that he was given last night, walked around Zuko’s ostrich horse, and approached the soldiers.

“My brother is more of a soldier than you’ll ever be!” he said, angrily approaching them, knife pointed forward.

_Shit._

“Well, what do we have here?” the leader said, turning around. The soldiers looked down at the boy and laughed, but Lee held his ground. Zuko watched as the men dismounted and grabbed the kid’s shirt, throwing him to the ground and making him drop the knife. He reached for his swords on his back.

“Please,” his mother begged behind him. “I don’t even know where he got the knife, he didn’t mean any harm.”

“If he’s old enough to fight us, then he’s old enough to fight the Fire Nation.” The leader pulled the kid off of the ground and tied his hands with a piece of string from his pocket. “You’re coming with us.”

The boy began to tear up, looking back at his family for help. He finally took action, dismounting from his ostrich horse with his swords fully drawn.

“Let he kid go.”

The soldiers looked him over and laughed at him, shoving the kid behind them.

“Who even are you?” The leader mocked him.

“It doesn’t matter. You’re all a bunch of cowards, bullying a kid like this. His family already lost one son to the war, and now you’re abusing your power to hurt them even further.”

They looked stupefied for a moment, giving him blank stares while they tried to figure out what to do.

“Well,” the leader finally spoke up, “are you going to let him insult you like that?”

One of the men came running at him, drawing his own sword. His stance was poor, so he held out his foot and knocked him off his feet. The second, a spearman, came running next. He used his sword to cut off the tip of the spear, then grabbed the pole and pulled the man forward, making him lose his balance and fall. The third, another spearman, ran at him. He dodged the tip of the spear with ease, then kicked the man in the ribs as he passed by him. The three he had beaten got themselves up and retreated. 

The leader finally stepped forward, pulling out two warhammers from his back. He slammed the ground with the left hammer, bending a rock upward with it. He smacked it with the right, sending it flying at Zuko. He managed to break it with the flat side of his sword, but it took considerable effort. The leader kept up the barrage, sending rock after rock at him. Eventually, he couldn’t keep up and one hit him in the chest. It knocked the wind out of him, but he stayed standing. The earthbender, seeing him weakened, bended a pillar of earth upward aimed at his chest. He was still trying to catch his breath and didn’t dodge it. It threw him airborne, knocking him backward and down on his back.

He remained conscious when he landed, but his vision filled with stars. Struggling to breathe and stay awake, the leader began to approach. He stood over him, smirking as he looked down at him while holding a boulder above his head.

 _This can’t be it; I can’t die like this._ He thought to himself, watching the rock loom over his face. _I’m not going to die a nameless, poor, titleless man in the Earth Kingdom._

Pulling out his last bit of inner strength, he clutched his swords tightly, swinging them around his body. He directed fire around them as he swung, creating a burning firestorm around himself. The leader backed off and gave him time to stand up in the ring of fire. Using his swords to guide the flames, he unleashed a fury upon the leader of the gang. He tried to defend himself, creating a wall of earth in front of him, but he was too weak. With one last blast, he was thrown backward into the fence, defeated.

“Who are you?” the leader asked feebly.

“I am Zuko, son of Ozai, Prince of the Fire Nation, and heir to the throne.” He proclaimed, feeling the power of those words once again as he approached him. He cowered as he approached, covering his face with his hands. Zuko took the knife he had stolen from the child and left him be.

“You’re no Prince.” Gansu said from behind him; Zuko turned his head toward him to listen. “Your own father burned and disowned you. You’re just an outcast.”

He ignored him and walked over to Lee. His mother, who had untied his hands, stepped in front of him to protect him.

“Not another step.” She said, holding out her arms. Obeying her wish, he knelt where he was standing and held out the knife to the child behind her.

“Here, take it, it’s yours.” He tried to be as nonthreatening as he could, keeping his voice soft, but the boy kept his arms crossed and looked at him with disgust.

“No, I hate you!” Lee yelled at him behind his mother’s back.

* * *

Kai skated upstream on the river where she and her friends parted until she reached the source, dropping Koda’s shed hair along the riverbank while she made her way. She still had more in her pack, so she decided to go even further. The source of the river was hidden away in an arid region of the northern Earth Kingdom, so she made sure her canteen was full of water for her to use in case of a fight. She bended the earth beneath her feet so that as she moved her leg, the earth moved with her and propelled her forward. It was a lot less work than walking, and much less tiring. She finally made her way to an abandoned town, dropping the last of the hair at the arched entrance. Exhausted from her day of travel with no sleep, she sat cross legged and waited for whatever was following them to come forward and reveal themselves. She kept her left palm to the ground, trying to feel for the vibrations in the earth before they arrived.

She didn’t have to wait too long; after half an hour, she felt the footsteps of two large animals approaching. It felt different than what was chasing her before, but both were headed right in her direction. She continued to sit patiently, waiting for whomever it was to come closer, the footsteps grew louder and nearer. Just over the setting sun on the horizon, she saw the shadow of the figure approaching, riding toward her. Her attacker eventually halted, got off of her mount, and walked over toward the crumbling entrance of the town. She looked prominent: her red and black armor gleaming in the evening sunlight; her black hair neatly tied up with a Fire Nation insignia in her hair save for two strands that fell on either side of her face; she walked toward the entrance with an air of dignity, keeping her shoulders back and her chin up.

“Do you want something?” she flatly asked the young woman in front of her.

“Oh, you don’t see the family resemblance?” she asked sharply, swiping the strands of black hair away from her face. She covered her left eye with her right hand and spoke in a mock baritone voice. “I must find the Avatar and restore my honor.”

Kai propped her chin up with her right hand as she sat still, unamused.

“It’s ok, you can laugh,” The Princess said with a sly smile in a cold tone, “it’s funny.”

“It’s really not.” She drummed her left hand against the earth. “So, what now?” She felt the second animal getting closer still from her right, probably setting up for a sneak attack.

“What now? It’s over. You’re tired and you have no place to go. You can run, but I’ll catch you.”

“I’m not running now.” She said, getting on her feet. The two shared a moment of silence, staring at each other from across the abandoned village.

“Do you really want to fight me?” the Princess taunted, positioning her arms and preparing to attack.

The second attacker revealed themselves from an alleyway in between her and the Princess. It was an ostrich horse, and its rider was all too familiar.

“Yes, I really do.” The Prince said, jumping down from his mount and facing his sister. He looked much different from the last time they had met; he was wearing dirty plainclothes, he looked thinner and much less regal, and he must have cut his top knot off, his hair now tied up with the short strands framing his face.

_Why does he show up every time someone in the Fire Nation tries to fight me?_

The Princess regained her smug aura after her brother appeared and broke the moment, crossing her arms and looking at him disapprovingly. “I was wondering when you were going to show up, Zuzu.”

Maybe it was because she was exhausted, but that actually got her to chuckle. “Zuzu?” she said, looking at him with a wry smile.

He took his stance, stretching one arm behind him facing her and the other toward his sister. “Back off Azula, she’s mine.”

Azula put one arm above her head with her second and third finger pointing forward, and the other facing palm down toward the ground. “I’m not going anywhere.”

The siblings glared at each other, and Kai realized what was going on.

_They’re not working together, but they’re both after the same prize._

“Do you two have any other siblings I should know about? Anyone else that’s trying prove themselves to daddy?”

No one seemed to think it was funny. She took her earthbending stance to match them, widening her legs to strengthen her posture and positing her arms at her sides and balling her hands into fists. 

“It’s ok, you can laugh.” She said, keeping her eyes on the Princess and mocking her tone as she got ready for a fight. “It’s funny.”

The staredown continued between the three of them, all waiting for someone to make a move. Zuko adjusted his hand and moved his fingers, taking a look back at her before returning his gaze to his sister. She thought she saw a slight smirk trail across the Princess’ face, and she began the attack.

She quickly arced he arm over her head toward her midsection, shooting blue fire from her fingertips at her brother. He realized in time to block her attack with his own fire, but he was thrown backward and into the side of a building. With him out of the way, Kai joined in the fray by covering herself in the earth and rock around her. She bended herself forward toward the Princess, hands positioned in front of herself, and the two locked hands and wrestled. The Princess was strong, using fire blasts from behind her feet to propel her forward, but her earthbending was stronger. The Princess slid backward, almost losing her balance, but she had been waiting for the moment. She let go of her hands and grabbed her arms, throwing the Princess down to the ground.

Azula quickly got back on her feet, but so had the Prince. The two exchanged fire blasts at each other, occasionally throwing one or two toward her, but she easily blocked them with the stone around her hands. The Prince grew tired of the back and forth, leaping forward toward his sister and shooting fire out of his feet toward the ground. She dodged as he rolled toward her on the ground. Now right in front of her, he shot upward with his fist toward his sister’s face, she dodged, and shot downward toward his. He lept backward into the air again, and she bended a wall of fire beneath him that he scrambled backward to avoid.

In the time Azula had sparred with her brother, she had used it to back up by some nearby buildings. Azula turned her attention back to her and shot several blasts her way. She dropped her shield of rocks around herself for added speed and ran upward to the second floor. The Princess followed her closely, running right behind her. She ran into the building, and nearly fell immediately after she realized it had no upper story. She jumped to the outer wall on the other side of the doorway, bending the brick backward to give herself a ledge to perch on. It was barely enough to fit her toes on, but it held her weight. She turned around and saw the Princess at the doorway, flailing her arms and trying not to fall. She managed to catch her balance on the thin ledge to the left of the doorway, but her brother did not. He came running full force through the doorway and fell downward to the first floor with a crash.

The old bricks supporting her weight began to crack, and the Princess shot another blast of fire at her from her precarious perch. She merely let the bricks break and fell downward into the first floor, avoiding the fire. Ignoring Zuko, who was struggling to get up after falling on his face, she ran out of the doorway on the first floor of the house and made it back to the town square. Azula blasted her brother through the wall, and he landed outside behind her unconscious on the ground. She bended the water out of her canteen and whipped at the Princess, wrapping the water around one of her hands and pulling her forward. Suddenly, another water whip joined hers and wrapped around the Princess’s opposite leg, pulling her backward. The combination made her tumble through the air as she lost her balance, making her fall flat on her face.

Bato came out from where he was hiding, and Gin sprang into action too. The trio shared a brief smile with each other before returning back to Azula. The Princess easily regained her balance and stood up and aimed at Kai, but Gin bended the metal hairpiece in her hair to jerk her head backward. She dropped the water and bended a rock upward and aimed it at her chest. The Princess quickly untied her hair, releasing Gin’s control on her, and jumped upward to avoid the rock sailing at her. Kai picked up the water again and the trio began to walk toward her, cornering her in front of one of the buildings on the other side of the street. 

Kai attacked first with Bato, coming at her from the right and left with water whips aimed at her hands. Azula shot fire at the two whips on either side of her to break them, then shot fire forward at Gin in the center. Gin bended a wall of earth upward to block the blast, then sent it forward at the Princess. Azula flipped backward in midair to avoid it, running down an alleyway to her right. She ran straight into Iroh, who had somehow come into the fray, who knocked her to the ground. Eventually, the Princess was cornered by the rubble of a collapsed building by five people: Kai, Gin, Bato, Iroh, and Zuko, who had gotten back up. Bato and Kai had water at the ready, Gin had a rock aimed at her midsection, Zuko and Iroh had fists aimed at the Princess. She stood next to the Prince, once again shoulder to shoulder with him, circling around their common enemy. All five of them closed in, slowly walking forward, and the Princess stepped further back against the wall.

“Well, look at this,” Azula sneered. “Enemies and traitors, all working together.” The five of them held their offensive line, but the Princess did not. She held her arms above her head and looked around at everyone surrounding her. “I give up. I know when I’ve been beaten. You got me. A Princess surrenders with honor.”

No one moved, all staring at the Princess. She reached out with her earthbending, trying to predict when Azula was going to move or who she would aim at. It was a lot more difficult to feel it through her boots; in fact, she couldn’t feel the Princess at all. Azula was completely calm as far as she could tell. The Prince to her right was not. His heartbeat was going a thousand miles a minute, even though he barely fought. She couldn’t tell if it was fear for his sister, or excitement from the fight, or possibly both, but Azula must have sensed it too. She brought her arms back down from over her head in one quick, fluid motion and shot fire directly at his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunately, I have to take a temporary hiatus for two weeks from this story. I know! But the cliffhanger ending is a good stopping place thematically anyway. I'll try and update on 3/14 if I can, but more realistically I'll resume on 3/21. 
> 
> This is by no means permanent; I already have most of this and about half of Book 3 (and some of Book 4) in the bag, so there's no stopping now. I've enjoyed writing this a lot more than I thought I would and this is probably one of my favorite chapters to date, and doing creative writing is a nice distraction from writing my thesis.
> 
> As always, thanks for reading.
> 
> -neincraff


	5. The Healer

There was a still moment, the whole group watching as the Fire Prince fell to the ground. His uncle’s face contorted into a look of shock and horror, and with a cry he turned back to his niece and started the attack. Iroh shot a blast of fire from his fist at her, Bato threw shards of ice at her, Gin hurled the rock she had in her hand, while Kai whipped water at her feet. Azula protected herself with a swirling mass of bright blue fire. As soon as the flames faded away the Princess was nowhere to be seen, leaving the five of them alone. Bato ran over to where she had been standing, trying to find where she had gone, while Gin put her hand to the ground to try and track her footsteps. 

“Wait, please.” Iroh said, grabbing the hem of her pant leg before she could run off with her friends. She stopped and looked down at the old man, holding his nephew’s head with his other hand. “Please help him, he’s the only family I have.”

“She’s your family too, and the Fire Lord.” Gin snapped back, standing up and pointing to where Azula had been standing just a moment ago. “We don’t have time to help him, or anyone related to him.”

“I lost my wife and son many years ago,” he explained as tears began to run down his face. “Ever since then, I have always thought of him as my own.”

“Yea, you’ve done a great job raising him.” Gin retorted.

“Gin, stop, that's enough.” She finally interjected, holding out her hand to try and get her to back off.

“You’re not seriously going to defend them, are you?” Raising her voice, she gestured back to the two Fire Nation men on the ground. “He’s done nothing for us except cause pain. And what if she comes back? We need to get out of here.”

“I’m not going to turn my back on people that need me.” She hated raising her voice at her friend, especially when she had a good point. She looked over at Bato, now keyed into the argument. He looked exhausted, giving her a mute stare with eyes half glazed over. Knowing him, he wouldn’t care what choice she made, he just wanted to rest.

 _After what happened on the ship, I should do this. I owe it to him._ She closed her bleary eyes and slumped her head, rubbing her forehead with her hand. She didn’t really want to, especially after staying awake for so long, but it was the right thing to do.

“Go help Bato.” She finally said quietly to her friend before turning her back to her. She looked down at the old man, now crying quietly as he brushed away the hair around his nephew’s placid face. 

“Back away from him.” She softly asked him, putting her hand on his shoulder. He did what she asked, letting go of the Prince and standing away from him, and she got to work.

She slowly bended the earth beneath him upward so he was sitting on a table at hip height. Next, she bended the earth around herself, the Prince, and Iroh into a tent and closed it at one end.

“I’m not moving him until I know he's stable.” She explained to Iroh. He took his nephew’s hand and held it as she took a knife from his belt.

“I’ll explain what’s going on as I go, people often find that it helps.” She said looking at Iroh, tears streaming down his face. “First, I’m cutting off his shirt, so it doesn’t get in the way and so we don’t have to move his arm or shoulder to get it off.” She took her knife and carefully cut away at the fabric around the collar and down toward the hem at the bottom and to the sleeve of his injured arm. She rolled the fabric off of him to reveal the extent of the injury: he had a large circular red burn on his chest, right over the heart. The redness ran from his chest up to the clavicle and had already started to swell and blister.

“Can you give me a little light?” She asked Iroh, who nodded and turned his right palm upward to hold a small flame to light up the earth tent. She took the water out of her canteen and wrapped it around her right hand. “Ok, let’s see the damage.”

She touched the burn mark on his shoulder and started her work. The water gently glowed in her hand as she worked it over the burn to promote the healing. With the other hand, she took his wrist and squeezed it with her index and middle finger.

“It missed his heart; it just burned the skin. His pulse isn’t disrupted or erratic. This is a nasty burn though.”

She continued to work the water over the entirety of the wound, trying to reduce the swelling and heal the damaged skin. Mild burns were easy to treat, but Azula’s attack was precise. She knew exactly where to hit to cause the most damage with the least effort. After a few minutes, she was satisfied with herself and stopped the healing.

“Ok, I think he’s good enough to move.” She withdrew the water and put it back in her canteen. "Infection is always a risk with burns, so I want to monitor him until he wakes up to make sure it doesn’t become septicemic.”

* * *

The Prince awoke, refreshed and relaxed. It was a pleasantly cool early autumn morning, and the windows in his bedchamber at the palace were open, making the curtains sway gracefully in the early morning breeze. After relishing in the peace and silence, he removed the silken sheets and slowly got up out of bed and walked over to his wash bowl on the other side of the room. Cupping his hands into the water, he closed his eyes and leaned his head over the wash bowl and brought the water to his face. He grabbed for the cotton towel placed next to the bowl on the table, and slowly patted his face dry. Placing the towel back in its place, he looked upward to the small mirror on the wall above the bowl. His face was exactly how he remembered it being: no ugly burn scar, both eyebrows still intact. He breathed a sigh of relief as he continued to examine himself in the mirror; it had all just been a terrible dream. He turned around to ring the bell next to the door to signal for the servants to come in and dress him, and there she was; the ghost that had been haunting him. Her eyes were glowing white, her hair wet and stuck to her face, teeth bared like a wolf. The room began to darken, the wind whipping through the curtains violently as the storm wracked the castle. It was the same nightmare as always, exactly as before. He braced for her to immobilize him, but instead she began to relax her posture. She closed her bright eyes, dimming the room, and fell to her knees. When her face hit the floor, the dark room changed to a new vision.

The scene faded to a familiar one. He was just a child again, feeding the turtleducks with his mother in the palace garden. The two sat by the edge of the pond beneath the willow tree, a loaf of bread in his hand with his mother’s arm around his back. He threw a piece into the water, giggling as they squabbled over it and looked up at his mother. He screamed when he saw that she was faceless.

It was pitch black in the room where he was laying. There was a glow coming from his left side. She was healing him, like she had done on the ship to herself. The water gently glowed as she worked it over his shoulder, illuminating her face and her bright blue eyes. Her brow furrowed; she was so concentrated on what she was doing she didn’t realize he was awake. He looked at her face for a moment before losing consciousness again.

He woke up again. It was morning this time, light drifting through the broken windows and walls of the abandoned stone house. His uncle was sitting on the other side of the room; he made a small fire and was brewing tea. He moved his left arm to try and sit up but as soon as he moved it pain shot all the way up to his neck. He groaned with the pain and gritted his teeth until it subsided, laying back down to keep it from flaring up. His uncle heard him moving, and immediately got up and walked to his side of the room, kneeling next to his side.

“You’ve been unconscious.” He explained. “Azula did this to you.”

His head was still foggy, with a slight pulsing pain behind his eyes, but his memory was beginning to return. He had made the fatal mistake of taking his eyes off of Azula for one moment, just one second, because he couldn’t believe that he managed to find the Avatar again. No resources, no money, just wandering aimlessly around the Earth Kingdom, and he happened to stumble upon her. He had been tracking Azula’s train as she traveled, figuring she would lead her to the Avatar, and it actually worked. His sister knocked him on his ass, sure, but he did pretty good for having barely eaten for the past month.

“There is someone here who needs to see you.” Iroh said softly to him. Still feeling fuzzy, he just gave him a little nod and closed his eyes again. He could hear his footsteps leave the room and another set coming over. He just kept his eyes closed, trying to go back to sleep.

“I know you don’t want me here.” It was a woman’s voice. It was familiar. He turned his head back over and opened his eyes to that face he could never forget. She looked concerned and nervous, her brow furrowed, and blue eyes cast down as she kneeled next to his side with her hands on her thighs.

Figuring it was another fight, or a nightmare, he just closed his eyes and turned his face away. 

“I owe you an apology…for what happened on the ship.” She kept her voice soft as she spoke, trying to be comforting and calm. “The technique I used on you was forbidden. It involves bending the blood in your body to control you; it’s disgusting and wrong, and it makes everybody involved feel like shit. I was…coerced into learning it a long time ago.”

He turned back over to look at her, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her hand with closed eyes. 

“I’m not here to ask for your forgiveness.” She continued, shaking her head and rubbing her eye. “I would understand if you never forgave me, told me to scram, and we remained enemies. But would you let me try and make it up to you by trying to patch you up?”

She put her hand back on her thigh and looked at him expectantly, those blue eyes pleading dearly with him. He didn’t really know what to say to her; he did want her to go away, he just wanted to rest by himself. The last person he wanted around him when he was hurt was her; he didn’t want his enemy to see him like this. On the other hand, she seemed genuine. Usually when they spoke she had bitchy remarks for him, snide comments, but this was different. She was trying, at least in her own way, to be better and to be helpful. But why? Why not just leave him here, or leave him to die; all they’d ever done is fight?

 _Why didn’t she just kill me when I broke her out of prison once she knew who I was?_ She was so hard to figure out. Either way, he was still too tired and his head too clouded to think about it right now. Figuring it would probably be better off for him to let her do her business, he gave her a curt nod.

He kept his eyes open this time and watched as she bended water he had spilled on himself and on the floor around her hand and touched his shoulder. It began to glow, and the pain began to subside. He rolled his head back and closed his eyes, relaxing as she ran the cool water over the burn. He felt her touch his left wrist, and he recoiled and moved it toward his body, opening his eyes to look at her again.

She signed and stopped her work. “It hit very close to your heart. I want to make sure your pulse is normal and that it didn’t damage any of the surrounding arteries. My job would be easier to do if I could feel your pulse.”

Reluctantly, he moved his hand back over to the side and faced his palm upward. She gently grabbed his wrist, squeezing with her index and middle finger as her other hand worked his shoulder. He could feel his face starting to flush as she tried to get the fever to subside, and he closed his eyes once again. Despite the wound, he felt comfortable and relaxed as she worked away the tension and repaired the burned skin.

“You hit your head yesterday when you fell and you’re acting like you’re concussed, so now that you’re up I want to take a look at your head.”

He parted his lips to tell her no, to stay away, but he couldn’t get the words out as she removed her hands and leaned over him, placing her fingers on his temples. He could smell just a hint of pine and the fresh spring wildflowers that had just began to bloom as she repositioned herself closer to him. Her fingers touched the very edge of his scar, but she was careful to leave it alone as she cleared his mind and reduced the slight nagging pain. He kept his eyes shut, trying to relax and let her do her work, but she was so infuriatingly close to him once again. She moved her hand downward just slightly onto his scar and pulled the water away.

Without warning, it felt like he had been struck with lightning. He gasped and opened his eyes in shock as his vision flashed, and he saw himself back to when he was thirteen. Tears began to well in his eyes as he kneeled on the ground with his hands above his bowed head, surrounded by the cheering crowd.

“I only had the Fire Nations best interest at heart. I’m sorry I spoke out of turn.”

“You will fight for your honor.” His father sneered at him, sauntering over from his side of the ring toward his young son.

“I meant you no disrespect. I am your loyal son.”

“Rise and fight, Prince Zuko.” He snapped.

“I won’t fight you.” His voice cracked as remained penitent and submissive, trying to show his loyalty and devotion.

“You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher.”

He looked up at his father, tears streaming down his face. He screamed as his father, his own father, burnt his face while he kneeled in front of him begging for forgiveness. The pain was intense and searing, his scream so loud the entire capital must have heard. He stayed perfectly still as the fire burned the left side of his face, the stench of burning skin and hair filled his nose. He pleaded for release from the pain, begging his body to let him fall unconscious, but he was not even awarded that kindness.

He snapped back to reality. The Avatar gasped and put her hand over her mouth, tensing her posture and pulling away from him in shock. He sat back up on his right hand, ignoring the pain as he moved his left arm. She stared at him wide eyed, looking just as shocked as he was.

“Leave.”

* * *

“Come on gang, we’re leaving.” She told her friends, quickly getting out of the abandoned building and over to where her things were packed.

“Finally.” Gin mumbled, swiping her bag off of the ground and throwing it over her shoulder. She was pretty upset about the situation, and she wasn’t doing anything to hide it. Despite their disagreement, the two had camped overnight with her and the firebenders. She figured they were too exhausted to fight her on it; after they got set up they ate something quickly then passed out. She woke up in intervals during the night, making sure that the fever wasn’t too drastic. Now that her work was done, she just wanted to get out of here like her friends did. Everyone had been quick to pack everything up, eager to leave and get back on the road after a night of rest, but Iroh stayed behind and tended to the small camp he made inside the abandoned building.

“Thank you for what you have done for my nephew.” He bowed to her and wished them safe travels before they departed. “I hope that one day, I can repay your kindness.” She gave him a meek smile and bowed back, putting her left hand against her knuckles.

“Come on.” Gin called over to her, everything already loaded up and ready to go. She walked back over to her friends, and they were off on their own again. They rode hard, trying to put as much distance between them as they could, but everyone was still tired from their last fight. They got as far as they could and made camp again; each dividing up the work like they always did. Everyone was quiet that night just like the one before, just doing what they needed to do. They barely talked during dinner; Gin still giving her the cold shoulder as she tried to start conversation. The other two went to bed and she agreed to stay up and wait until the fire died down before putting it out for the night.

She stayed up late that night, well after the sun fell and the moon began to rise above the horizon, despite being exhausted. It was finally starting to get warm at night now, and she relished it and sat by the campfire and kept it going after the others had gone to bed. She sat with her arms around her legs, resting her head on her knees, just watching the flames and the flickering fireflies, listening to the calling insects and frogs. The past few days had been stressful; it was nice to have some peace to herself.

“Hey.” Bato emerged from his tent, just wearing his sleeping clothes, lifting the flap on the door across from where she was sitting.

“Hey.”

“You doing ok?” He walked over and sat cross legged next to her.

“Yea, it’s been a long couple of days.”

“Did you get the closure you needed?”

“I think so.” She didn’t tell them the details of the encounter. Her previous work with head wounds was minimal; in other words, she didn’t have much clinical experience dealing with them. Burns and scrapes were easy, but the deeper the wound the harder it was to treat. Minor headaches were one thing, but she must have pushed the limits trying to reduce cranial swelling from a concussion. 

_What the hell was that?_ She’d been asking herself the same question over and over all day. Sometimes wounds with painful memories associated with them can come forward, but this was way different. She wasn’t even going for the scar, just trying to soothe the strain in his temple, maybe that triggered it? But why did she see that too? Part of healing was releasing the negative energy around the wound; did she somehow take some of it in? It felt like she was really there, living his memory as he experienced it. It was so horrific she almost felt the burn on her eye after she had left. She never really thought too hard about how he got the scar in the first place. Firebenders were stupid and rash; a lot of them got burned in accidents all the time, and then they learned their lesson the hard way. She of all people would know; she helped out a lot of firebenders when she lived there, and it made her a lot of friends. But to be burned and disgraced by your own father for speaking out of turn as a child, in front of a crowd of people? What could anyone have done to deserve that?

_The Fire Nation has changed a lot in a hundred years._

At least it continued with the explanation of why he was the way he was: she knew how he got banished, and why he was hunting her down. He was given an impossible task to regain his honor for speaking out of turn and refusing to fight his father.

_The Fire Nation and their honor system. At least it’ll be easier to kill his dad now that I know how much of a piece of shit he is._

“You know,” Bato spoke again, “he’d never feel this bad if he did something like that to you. And he never would have helped you if you went down.”

“Yea, I know.”

_Except for that one time he broke me out of jail, I guess. And let me stay in his room when I passed out. Or was that his uncle? That was a weird time._

“You know what?" He told her. "Take your time. Don’t let me rush you, and don’t let Gin tell you that you did something wrong. You’re did something nice for someone; you're a good person.”

She looked up from the fire and over at her friend. “Thanks buddy.”

“Now go to bed." He gently nudged her with his elbow. "Stop worrying and try and get some sleep.”

* * *

When he was finally recovered enough to travel again, Zuko continued with his uncle on their path eastward. The terrain was much more arid than before; they were completely lost, but he knew they must still be somewhere in the middle of the Earth Kindgom. It had only been a few days since the incident, but the burn was healing surprisingly well. His fever hadn’t spiked since, and most of the soreness had subsided. He still kept it wrapped, hoping to keep it healing and stave infection. Around sundown they stopped on the side of the path to make camp for the night. Before they even got the chance to set up, he heard some rustling in the trees nearby. Both he and his uncle stood at attention around the ostrich horse and waited.

“What now?” He grumbled to himself.

Just as quickly as they had stopped, five komodo rhinos appeared out of the forest, quickly surrounding the two. They looked like formidable opponents; each rider with a different weapon and armor at the ready as they circled them.

“Colonel Mongke?” His uncle said jovially to the lead rider. “What a pleasant surprise.”

“If you’re surprised we’re here,” the leader replied, “then the Dragon of the West has lost a few steps.” He clanged his metal gauntlets together, and the other riders readied their weapons.

“You know these guys?” He asked his uncle, still keeping his eyes on the riders.

“Sure. Colonel Mongke and the Rough Rhinos are legendary. Each one is a different kind of weapons specialist. They are also a very capable singing group.” He explained, putting a hand on his good shoulder.

“We’re not here to give a concert.” Mongke flatly replied. “We’re here to apprehend fugitives.”

“Would you like some tea first?” Iroh asked him. “I’d love some.”

 _Where is he going with this?_ His uncle seemed so casual, but he held his position as the riders aimed at them.

“How about you, Kahchi?” Iroh turned to the one with the beard and the guan dao. “I take you as a jasmine man, am I right?”

“Enough stalling!” Mongke commanded. “Round ‘em up!”

The rider with the ball and chain threw it at him, and he kicked the ball toward the foot of one of the other rhinos. Iroh ran over and smacked its backside, rolling to avoid flaming arrows from the archer, and dispatched two of the riders in one move. The archer shot another arrow at him, which he burned before it could reach his face. He responded with a direct blast, shooting a thin bullet of fire through his bow to ruin it. Mongke rode forward, shooting blast after blast at his uncle. Iroh deflected and held his attention as he climbed on top of the rhino and shot a circular fireblast with his feet, knocking the rider off. The two quickly ran to the ostrich horse and rode off as the last member followed them, tossing a smoke bomb in front of their path. They cleared it just in time and they used the smoke to lose him.

“It’s nice to see old friends.” Iroh leaned back as he watched the smoke begin to dissipate.

“It’s too bad you don’t have any old friends that don’t want to attack us.” He replied as he rubbed his wound through the bandage.

“Hm…Old friends that don’t want to attack me.” His uncle replied pensively. What he meant by that he didn’t know. All that mattered now was getting somewhere safe again.

* * *

“Hey, can we talk?”

Bato wanted to wait until the next morning to talk it over with Gin. She’d been giving them the cold shoulder about it all day yesterday, and he figured now that she’d had some sleep it would be a better time to talk. She nodded to him and stood up from packing her tent up for the day. He motioned with his head to walk with him through the woods, and he led the way and let her vent as they hiked.

“She knows how uncomfortable they both make me." She started. "I mean, you can’t be comfortable around them either. She just completely disregarded our thoughts about it and drug us along. It wasn’t fair.”

“The thing you need to understand about Kai is that she was raised to be a healer as soon as she could move water. All the girls were. For sixteen years she was trained to put aside personal opinions and to have compassion for her patients.”

“I mean that makes sense, but why him? She knows exactly who he is, and she put us in danger by staying. What was she thinking?”

He sighed and moved a few brambles out of the way with his hand, revealing a clearing in the trees up ahead. “Did we ever tell you how we got Koda?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“We were both ten.” He began the story, sitting down on a mossy rock in the clearing. “The Chief is expected to be a good hunter and to lead hunting parties into the tundra; it was a popular sport for us, so my dad wanted to make sure that I got good at it young. On one of my first hunts I brought her along; it wasn’t traditional to bring girls, but you know how she is, and we were always good friends, so we went out with some of my other friends. So we get out there, and of course we don’t know all of the landmarks or where to avoid, so we somehow found ourselves right next to a polar bear dog’s den. You wouldn’t be able to tell if you’d just met Koda, but polar bear dogs were both revered and feared in our culture. They’re considered kings of the tundra, the top predators, and can very easily kill you if you cross them. If you could kill one you were considered a masterful hunter, but few people ever tried. We didn’t find the mother, but we heard a cub crying near the den. It was buried in the snow; we figured it was the abandoned runt of the litter. Kai immediately took it in and wanted to bring it home. We all thought she was insane; no one had ever kept one as a pet before, they’re dangerous wild animals. But she had it in her mind that she wanted to keep it because it was going to die without her help. She raised Koda from a newborn cub; staying up all night healing it from the pneumonia it had because it was abandoned and feeding it when it cried. Everyone thought she was crazy, and it gave her a bad reputation; people thought she might be cursed or something. But sure enough, that cub survived and pulled through and they’ve been inseparable ever since, and Koda’s never hurt anyone that didn’t try and hurt her first.”

“That’s incredible.”

“As rough as Kai can come off, she really does just want to help people. Just let up on her a little; she already probably feels conflicted enough about it, she doesn’t need us getting her down too.”

“I guess you’re right.” She admitted, turning her head away.

“What’s important now is that we keep moving and we keep on. We can’t get caught up on being petty with each other. You have every right to be upset, and I agree with you, but we have to keep moving and move on from it."


	6. The Northern Air Temple

Iroh had taken them southward after their spat with the Rough Rhinos. According to him, he wanted to make a stop at an old resort near the desert, something about knowing an old friend there that could help them. The resort didn’t look much like one; it was more of a dry, sandy trading outpost now than what it must have been in its glory days. His uncle took them into a cantina after they arrived near sundown. The only remnants of this place being a resort were the cold drinks served in ice from an iceberg in the middle of town. They sat in a table in the corner, trying to conceal their faces and lie low.

“No one here is going to help us.” He tried to explain to his uncle. “Everyone here just looks like filthy wanderers.”

“So do we.” His uncle replied with a reassuring smile before looking past him.

“Ah, this is interesting.” He pointed to a Pai Sho table behind him, occupied by some old man sitting alone. “I think I found our friend.”

“You brought us here to gamble on Pai Sho?”

“I don’t think this is a gamble.” He replied before slowly getting out of his chair and walking over to the old man sitting at the table. Zuko rolled his eyes at the cryptic remark and got up from his seat to join him.

“May I have this game?” His uncle asked as he stood in front of the board.

“The guest has the first move.” The old man told him flatly and motioned with his hand to the board. His uncle sat down in the simple wooden stool and began his game. He started by putting the white lotus tile right in the center of the board, an odd first move, but one he’d seen him do before.

“I see you favor the white lotus gambit. Not many still cling to the ancient ways.” The old man noted before cupping his hands and bowing his head.

“Those who do can always find a friend.” His uncle replied before repeating the gesture.

_What is they doing?_

“Then let us play.” The old man said, and the two quickly began arranging pieces on the board. He’d never seen his uncle play so quickly; he pulled up a stool of his own and watched the two scatter their pieces on the board, not even putting them in their correct places to play the game. Finally it all came together; they weren’t playing a game, it was code, a map, a picture of some kind. As they finished, the pieces they had placed formed the outline of the white lotus tile around the board.

“Welcome, brother.” The old man said, withdrawing his attention from the board and gesturing with open arms. “The white lotus opens wide to those who know her secrets.”

He finally couldn’t take the arcane words and double meanings any longer. “What are you old gas bags talking about?”

“I always tried to tell you that Pai Sho is more than just a game.” Iroh told him, flipping a piece through his fingers.

There was some commotion across the room, and two men came over to the table, one taller with jet black hair, and the other shorter with a cleaner neater robe.

“It’s over!” The taller one shouted. “You two fugitives are coming with me!”

The old man his uncle had been playing with stood up and stood between them and the two bounty hunters, pointing his finger and raising his voice. “I knew it! You two are wanted criminals with a giant bounty on your heads.”

“I thought you said he would help.” He hissed at his uncle as all of the patrons turned their heads at the scene. There was no way they could fight off everyone; maybe they could if they got lucky. But they would have to reveal themselves in a crowded city as firebenders, and his shoulder was still on the mend.

“He is,” Iroh calmly put his hand on his good shoulder. “Just watch.”

Slowly, the other people in the bar stood up from where they were sitting and walked over, grabbing their various weapons and readying their fists. The two bounty hunters that approached them first were quickly overwhelmed, despite being capable earthbenders. The old man quickly snuck them out of the entrance in the ensuing commotion and into the night. After scrambling out of the main city, he took them to a small building that looked like a greenhouse, shutting the wooden door behind them. Once they were safe, the old man turned to his uncle and bowed once again.

“It is an honor to welcome such a high-ranking member of the White Lotus. Being a grand master, you must know so many secrets.” The old man walked to a back door in the building, Iroh smiling and following behind him.

“Now that you’ve played Pai Sho," He was beginning to find this friend of theirs vexing and irritating, "are you going to do some flower arranging? Or is someone in your club going to offer some real help?”

“You must forgive my nephew.” Iroh told the old man as he knocked on the door in the back. “He is not an initiate and has little appreciation for the cryptic arts.”

 _What the hell does that even mean?_ A slot in the door opened, revealing another member of their weird club.

“Who knocks at the guarded gate?” The doorman asked.

“One who has eaten the fruit and tasted its mysteries.” His uncle replied. The doorman opened the door from the other side, revealing a well-lit but plainly decorated room. The old man and his uncle walked in, but they shut the door in his face before he could follow. 

His uncle opened the slot in the door. “I’m afraid it’s members only. Wait out here.” After he finished, he shut the slot and left him alone in the greenhouse. He put his ear to the door, trying to hear what they were saying, but the wood was so thick that he had no luck. With nothing better to do, he took a look around at the desert plants growing there, disinterestedly wandering around the tiny room for what felt like forever. As the hours dragged on, he leaned against a crate and nodded his head to try and rest.

The sound of the door creaking open woke him up with a jolt. He hadn't expected sleep to come so easily, and hadn't expected to fall asleep standing upright. He was so used to being defensive and on the run, he took up his fighting stance and scanned the room.

“What’s going on?” He quickly turned and asked his uncle. After realizing there was no threat and it was only his uncle and the members of his club, he relaxed himself, or at least as as much as he could now that he had a stiff neck from his awkward sleeping position. “Is the club meeting over?”

“Everything is taken care of.” Iroh told him, bowing to the old man before turning to him. “We’re going to the Northern Air Temple.”

“Why would we go there?" He was a bit dumbstruck; that seemed like the last place they should go. The Air Nomads were peaceful enough, but they wouldn't stand for the Fire Prince and the Dragon of the West marching into their city.

“Air Temple City is filled with refugees.” The old man explained. “No one will notice two more.”

“The only other safe place to go is Ba Sing Se, but there are rumors of a crackdown on immigration there,” His uncle explained. “The Air Nomads accept all without questions, and it’s one of the safest places from the Fire Nation. No army has been able to scale the mountains that protect it.”

He was right about that; no army has been able to successfully invade the Northern Air Temple. If their weird club could sneak them in, they would blend in well. No one could find them there, not Azula, not his father, not...anyone else that they didn't want to see. Besides, she was supposed to learn firebending next before airbending anyway, that's how the Avatar cycle has always worked, and there was no way she could find someone to teach her. They were going to be safe.

* * *

It was time to head into town for supplies once again. They had been trying to avoid it for as long as they could with the Fire Princess after them, but when wasn’t someone deadly stalking them through the Earth Kingdom? They had made their way into the northeast, passing through the Serpent’s Pass two days ago. Now that they knew not to mess with the Serpent and sneak onto the ferry instead, it was a lot smoother of a journey. They didn’t have the proper papers to get into Ba Sing Se, and with the rumors going around about the place it sounded like it was best to stay clear. There were a few small settlements left in the mountains northward; apparently the recent sieges on the city wiped out most of the surrounding villages, but that was no matter to them now. They didn’t even realize how high into the mountains they were climbing until they could feel their ears popping and feel the fresh spring air thinning and chilling. It was nearly impossible to reach without two earthbenders fixing and widening the path as they went along, but they were finally on relatively even ground. The village itself wasn’t flat, the buildings and farmland terraced into the mountainside. They grabbed what they needed from the market and decided to get a room in the tavern for the night. There was no place on the mountainside to camp safely anyway, and the rooms were cheap. They put Koda in the barn while Gin stayed to watch her while Kai and Bato ran inside to ask about a room.

The place was fairly empty, and they walked right up to the bar and grabbed a cheap room from the owner. They paid and thanked him, and in her haste to get back to their friend in the barn she bumped right into one of the other patrons, spilling his drink all over his shirt. She had been so distracted the past few days; constantly making clumsy mistakes and tripping over her feet. She hadn’t been like that in years, and she just attributed it to the fact that she was slipping up. Clearly, she couldn’t be a healer anymore because that went horribly wrong, so why shouldn’t everything else be going wrong too?

 _Why can't I do anything right anymore? Why can't I even apologize right? Why...oh wait, I'm standing here like an idiot._ She finally realized she had indeed been standing there staring at the person in front of her, the drink dripping down their clothes, and hadn't offered them an apology.

“I’m so sorry.” She nervously muttered to the person she bumped into, more upset with herself and apologetic.

“It’s ok; I clean up easy.” He casually assured her, placing his fists together and creating a gust of air beneath his shirt to dry it out. He didn’t even give her a chance to take a step back before he did, and the force of it ended up blowing her hair back off of her face.

“Hey,” Bato finally turned around, still leaning on the counter, “You’re an airbender.”

“Yup.” The teenager said, dusting himself off. She had never met an airbender before, besides her past life, but she could see the resemblance: the yellow and orange robes, the tattoos, the shaved head. “My name’s Aang. Why are you guys dressed so weird?” He cocked his head and asked, smoothing out his robes.

“I’m not dressed weird.” She insisted; the chill in the mountains had them wearing their fur trimmed adirondack coats again. She didn’t think it looked strange, but she looked down at herself nonetheless. The only thing odd about it was the stain from whatever his drink was, which in her nervousness at being called weird she bended out to dry it.

“Hey, you’re a waterbender!” The airbender lit up. “Are you the Avatar?”

“Shhhh.” Bato got up from the counter and put his hand over the airbender’s mouth to shut him up. “You can’t just go around screaming that out.” He responded with a nod, and Bato released his hand from over his mouth.

“Are you a waterbender too?” The airbender asked Bato, still a little louder than he should have, who promptly shushed him. 

“Oh, sorry,” He whispered this time, “Are you a waterbender too?”

“Yes,” Bato whispered back. “But we need to get going now, its not safe for us here anymore.” There was just a slight undertone of malice and annoyance; clearly, he was thinking the same that she was. This kid, although nice, just compromised them. And she had been very much looking forward to sleeping in a bed.

“Well, if you guys need to get somewhere safe, I can take you to the Northern Air Temple.”

“You can?” She asked, surprised. The only thing she knew about the Air Temples was that they were impossible to reach if you weren’t an airbender so she had never expected to see one.

“I’ll just fly you guys there on Appa, my flying bison.”

“Yea,” Bato chimed in, “And this is Kai, my flying friend.”

“No, really,” the airbender insisted, “We can fly you over the mountains. We take in a lot of refugees; the monks won’t have a problem with you being there. And if you are the Avatar, the monks can train you. Come on, what do you say?”

Aang looked over expectantly at her, waiting for an answer. She conceited, nodding her head.

“I have a polar bear dog,” She told him, nodding her head toward the side of the building, “out in the barn. How are we going to get here there too?”

“Easy: Appa and I were just transporting some supplies into the city, I still have the ropes and a crate. We could put her in there and tie her down to the saddle.”

“Is it…safe?” Bato asked tepidly. It did seem like a bit of an unsteady ride for her, and none of them had ever flown on a flying bison before.

“Of course it’s safe! You and your polar bear dog will be fine, you have my word.” He laced his fingers together and bowed his head to her. He was persistent and polite; she’ll give him that, and they followed him out of the tavern before refunding their rooms. His bison was not far from where they were, resting in a different barn eating hay. The three loaded up their supplies onto the bison’s saddle, and a reluctant Koda crawled herself into the wooden crate. They secured it with rope, well woven and tougher than she had expected it to be, tying through the loops of the saddle so that it would hang below the bison as it flew.

The three climbed up the bison’s thick white fur onto the saddle, and with a flick of the rains and a “Yip Yip” from the airbender the bison was off. To be honest, she had doubted the beast could fly at all; it was massive and lumbering on the ground. But to everyone’s surprise, it took a few running steps before smoothly lifting everyone off of the ground. It took a while to settle in; most of the journey they clung for dear life against the saddle. The airbender assured them that the flight was short and easy, that he did it all the time, but the first-time flyers weren't so sure.

“Hey, Gin.” She turned to her friend, now white in the face, and tried to distract them both from the flight. “Do you think I dress weird?”

“Uh…” Her poor friend looked very uncomfortable, her face had blanched white, and the curt grunt was about all she could get out.

“Why are you so self-conscious about it?” Bato called over to her from the other side of the saddle.

“I’m not self-conscious!” She quickly said back, feeling very much the opposite; it must have been due to her stomach turning over as they flew. Bato gave her a strange, confused look before turning away. Her emotions these past few days had been just as odd and uncomfortable as this flight was going. Why was she still thinking about it? Does she dress weird? Why does it matter what she looks like, to anyone? She glanced back up at the airbender at the saddle, who was relaxing and giving them a gleeful grin as he watched the three of them writhe on the saddle.

“Uh, why are you smiling at me like that?” Her eyes flicked in every direction, not wanting his eyes to bore into her any longer.

“Oh, I was smiling?” He responded simply before turning back around and giving the reigns another flick.

She just closed her eyes, trying to forget where she was and what she was doing and calm herself down. She was getting far away, very far away, from the incidents that transpired just a few days ago. She was going to a place that was safe from the Fire Nation. She was never going to see him again. She didn’t have to worry about these things anymore.

“You’re going to love it there!” Aang shouted back to them from the bison’s head, breaking her meditation, or lack thereof. “We have flying lemurs, flying bison…”

“I think I’m going to vomit.” Gin mumbled to her companions. Her pale white face had started to turn a nauseating green color; any longer in the air and she might keep true to that promise.

“There it is!” the airbender shouted. As the clouds cleared, she looked forward to the magnificent air temple. It was nestled between a ring of white-capped mountains, sparking with a fresh layer of spring snow. The gold trimmings on the roof reflected the bright evening sunlight, gleaming and making it look like the temple was the sun rising above the clouds. As they flew closer, it was evident that while most of the temple was built on top of the mountain, some was built underneath the peak and inside of it. She looked below the bison toward the ground and saw a city contained within the ring of summits, with the temple at its center. She turned her attention back upward toward the gilded temple, and this time noticed the airbenders flying beside them on gliders. They smiled and waved to her, then banked downward toward a large open area. 

Aang followed them, banking down and left. They descended easily, landing in the large circular courtyard near the periphery of the temple. The airbenders beneath unfastened the makeshift crate that attached Koda to the sky bison, and then they dismounted and were finally on solid ground. For the airbender, it was easy; he gracefully hopped off of the sky bison and used the wind beneath him to cushion his fall. For waterbenders, they precariously slid down the bison’s fur and onto the hard ground. Gin was so eager that she jumped off the side of the bison, landing face down on the platform and sinking into the ground.

“I never thought I’d miss land this much.” Her voice was muffled as she waved her arms in the sunken ground, making what looked like a snow angel in the stone platform. She couldn’t help but laugh as she watched her friend get reacquainted with the earth she had dearly missed, all the more thankful that she didn’t get sick on the ride there.

Before they began to unpack, a group of five elderly monks walked into the courtyard to greet them. Aang bowed to them in greeting, and they responded back similarly.

“Monk Gyatso, allow me to introduce the people I have brought to the temple.”

“There is no need Aang.” The monk who the airbender had addressed spoke up. “We know who your friends are.”

“Please, young Avatar,” the monk at the center of the five spoke next, “follow us into the temple. We must meet at once.”

The trio and their new airbender followed the monks back to a secluded room. The temple was beautiful in the spring; the flowers along the pathways leading through the temples had began to bloom, making the temple smell of the sweetest perfume. Butterflies fluttered around the vines that crept up the towers; one of them flew too close to the airbender, so he snapped and created a gust or air from his fingers to blow it away from his face. Finally, they had made their way to the center of the temple, the central tower. The monks motioned them inside into a large circular meeting room. The monks took their places on cushions on the floor at the far end of the room, and the trio and the airbender sat on the ground in front of them.

“Although you are the Avatar,” the monk at the center spoke first “We cannot accept you into our temple.”

“I don’t understand.” She mutely responded, furrowing her brow. Clearly, Aang had lied to them for whatever reason.

“We are the last Air Temple left that has not been affected by the war.” The monk to the right of him spoke. “The Western Temple fell siege to Fire Nation raids years ago and was abandoned. The Southern and Eastern have fallen to the war as well.”

“You must understand,” the monk in the center spoke again. “We are doing the best we can to stay out of this war. It is not the way of our people to harm or kill, and we intent to stay that way.”

“So, you’re going to do nothing?" She started raising her voice. "You’re doing nothing to end the suffering the Fire Nation has caused from the war?”

“We are doing what we can. The city you saw below you at the base of the mountain is full of refugees from the Earth Kingdom. They come here in droves every day, and we do what we can to feed and heal them and keep them out of the war. But allowing you to stay here would be an affront to the Fire Nation and would place them in danger.”

“I understand you want to keep the refugees safe, but it’s my destiny to learn airbending.”

“The Avatar must first learn earth, then fire, then finally airbending. You have not even begun to learn firebending. You are not ready; we cannot help you.”

She stood up, beginning to lose her temper. “I didn’t come all this way to be told no.”

“No.” The monk said indignantly back to her.

“Since you’re all so wise, why don’t you direct me to the nearest firebending teacher that I can learn from while I wait for you to grow a spine.”

"Kai..." The airbender looked up hesitantly at her, trying to get her to calm down.

“Young Avatar,” the head monk boomed, “You have shown us that you are rash, petulant, and not ready to learn the art of airbending. You are wasting our time.”

Before she could retort, the air in the room was suddenly swept toward the center. The light in the room dimmed and faded, making the once bright and calm room look like a dungeon. She noticed that she could no longer see her friends on either side of her as the room darkened, only the monks on the other side visible to her now. They watched in awe as the air and dust swept into the air insignia on the floor in the center of the room, forming a swirling tornado in the darkness. Finally, it calmed, and revealed a familiar airbender that she hadn’t seen since she was last in the Spirit World.

“You think I am a petulant child?” Her past life asked the monk.

“Avatar Chetan,” the monk in the middle bowed to him, and the other five did the same. “No, no, I did not mean that.”

“I have mastered the elements a thousand times in a thousand lifetimes. Now, I must do it once again. You will teach the Avatar airbending.” He commanded, raising his hand and creating a swirling tornado around himself once again.

“Yes, yes.” The monk agreed. “We will teach you.”

The room began to fade back in, the darkness lifting and the wind in the room calming down. After their meeting, the monks showed the newcomers to their chambers. They each had a separate room in the Air Temple, all next to each other in the same open circular building with a stone courtyard in the center. They were safe, away from the Fire Nation, and tomorrow morning she would start learning airbending.

* * *

His uncle had been right, Air Temple City was certainly concealed; the place was almost impossible to find. The journey there was no easy feat either; the thin winding trails through the surrounding mountain ranges made the trip by two men hard enough; he couldn't imagine trying to march an army through. The only way in and out was to fly over on a sky bison; once you presented your papers to the air nomad running the travel service that day, they flew a small group over and landed at the entrance. The flight was short but rough as the updrafts from the mountains jostled the sky bison mid-air. None of the other passengers had flown before either, and all were thankful to land in the entrance of the town without losing their lunch.

From the sky you could see the general layout of the city. Roughly a third was dedicated to farmland, which the airbender told them was tended by the nomads. The other two thirds formed a sprawling city that encircled a central mountainous peak that contained the Northern Air Temple. The monks didn’t believe in segregation or separation, so the city had no defined districts for artisans or aristocracy. It was instead a large jumble of different construction projects, from older buildings built by the first refugees to newly build slums that could barely handle the mass of new tenants escaping the later stages of the war.

The landing platform was near the base of the Air Temple and was considered the official entrance of the city. Other sky bison flew in carrying crates and supplies, while others were loaded up with exports. Only one bison carried passengers across; although the city was a haven for refugees, most still went to Ba Sing Se. On the ground, the Air Temple was shrouded in cloud cover, making the center of the city look like a pillar that scraped the sky.

They put the last of the money he had stolen on a down payment for a meager apartment. After a few days of settling in, getting food, getting furniture, his uncle told him he found them work and had an interview that afternoon. They went to the market that morning, getting more supplies to get everything together. Iroh always loved shopping; when they traveled through the Earth Kingdom searching for the Avatar, he always stopped at every marketplace, every farm stand, every place that sold useless overpriced junk. Today was no different; as he walked ahead through the crowded market, his uncle stopped far behind him at a stand. Realizing he was being left behind, he came jogging back beside him with a vase of fresh flowers.

_Flowers? Really? We barely have money for an apartment and he’s spending it on crap like flowers?_

“I just want our new place to look nice,” His uncle said, noticing he was glaring at him, “in case someone brings home a lady friend.” He gave him a nudge with his elbow.

That was the absolute last thing on his mind at the moment. “This city is a prison." It was busy, overcrowded, and it was nowhere near home. They were safe, sure, but he wasn't planning on enjoying it; this isn't where he belonged. "I don’t want to make a life here.”

“Life happens wherever you are, whether you make it or not.” Odd advice from an odd old man.

He led the way to a paltry tea house; two yellow paper lanterns hanging on either side of the doorway was the only thing distinguishing it as a restaurant in the otherwise drab street. The simply lettered sign above the doorway read _Pao Family Tea House_ , and building wasn’t much larger or more impressing on the inside. The walls were decorated with simple wood block paintings of animals and the only thing to add color to the dull room was a single potted plant next to the door. The wooden tables and benches were simple and inexpensive, and the whole shop smelled like burned leaves. The owner gave them their new uniforms: plain yellow and orange robes, the colors of the Air Nomads, although the style was more reminiscent to robes in the Earth Kingdom; and tea-stained ivory aprons that synched at the waist.

“Well,” the owner said after they put them on, “you certainly look like official tea servers. How do you feel?”

 _I feel ridiculous._ The owner made him tie his hair back too, the indecency, braiding it in a long queue. Despite the humility, he kept his mouth shut.

“Uh, does this possibly come in a larger size?” His uncle asked, still trying to tie the back of his apron.

“I have extra string in the back.” The owner told him and poured the two a cup of tea from the pot sitting adjacent to him on the table. “Have some tea while you wait.”

He gave the two a cup and scurried to the back of the shop, leaving them alone for a moment. His uncle eagerly drank his cup, but promptly made a sour face and gagged.

“This tea is nothing more than hot leaf juice!” He exclaimed, examining the cup in disgust.

“Uncle, that’s what all tea is.” He reminded him, putting the cup in his hand back on the table.

“How could a member of my own family say something so horrible?” He grabbed the pot that the owner left on the table. “We’ll have to make some major changes around here.” He walked over to the window near the entrance and threw the tea out before going into the back room himself to brew more. His uncle wasn't going to make this easy, was he?

* * *

“Do I really have to wear it every day?”

The airbenders gave all of the novices the same outfit: a long-sleeved yellow shirt covered that fell down to her knees, covered by a loose orange shawl and brown pants. The shirt was tied at the waist by an orange belt and was tucked securely into the knee-high boots. The bright yellow and orange looked garish, and on top of it all they told her she needed to keep her hair in a braid and off of her face.

“Oh come on,” Aang chided as they hopped down the stairs together to the training area, “It’s not that bad.”

 _I guess I can’t complain; these are the first new clothes I’ve gotten in a hundred years._ Because all of the novices wore the same robes, it made her look like a little kid. At least they still let her wear her necklace. It was her first morning of training so it was all going to take some getting used to, and she was jittery at the thought of getting started.

“I’m going to start you off with the basics.” He told her once they finally reached the circular platform at the base of the stairs. “We’re not going to move air today; I just want you to get the footwork down. I want you to walk through that platform.” He said, pointing to the training platform with flat wooden gates jutting out of the ground. “Without hitting any of the wooden gates.”

“Ok, seems easy enough.” She nodded and began to approach it.

“Not yet.” He said, grabbing her arm and holding her back. He propped his staff up against a rock nearby, freeing his other hand. With a quick swipe he sent a gust of wind toward the platform, making the wooden gates spin violently.

“How do you expect me to do it now?!" She gawked at the speed at which the wooden gates spun; it was nearly making her dizzy just watching.

“The trick is to be the leaf.” He said, picking up one from the ground. With a small gust, he released it toward the spinning gates. The two watched as it fluttered gracefully through to the other side unharmed. “Go with the air flow, don’t try and force your way through.”

“Ok, be the leaf.” She reminded herself, and slowly approached the platform. Waterbending was all about pushing and pulling, floating and flowing, so maybe this wouldn’t be so different? She managed to make her way in, trying to flow through, but after a few more steps she got thwacked in the shoulder. Recoiling from that hit made her sidestep right into another gate, smacking her in the back and shoving her out of the ring right on her back.

“Airbending sucks.” She mumbled as she rubbed her shoulder and got herself up.

“You’re not going to get it on your first go.” He reminded her. “But if you get frustrated, there’s plenty of other exercises to try.”

“Yea? What else do you do?” She dusted herself off, not quite eager to get herself smacked with the wooden gates just yet.

“Well, the most fun part about airbending is the freedom.” His face lit up and he picked up his staff from where it had been leaning. He tapped it against the ground, revealing that had wings as they folded outward. “Learning how to fly a glider is a good start to that.”

She recoiled at the thought of being shoved off a cliff by some bald guy she just met this week and trying to learn how to fly like a baby bird getting fledged.

“I think I’ll stick to being a leaf for now.”


	7. Chapter 7

Today was the day she had been dreading since she started airbending: the day they were going to make her learn how to fly. Their gliders were handcrafted by the monks out of the finest hardwood with folding wings. Despite their craftsmanship, she wasn’t sure that little pole was going to support her at all. She gripped the thin wooden staff and stared downward off the edge of the landing platform. The sky was clear that day, meaning she could see the entire city sprawling out below. They were so high she couldn’t distinguish individual buildings or people, the farmland only visible as large squares.

“I think the monks were right.” She quickly told her new friend, still starting down at the ground. “I don’t think I’m ready for this yet. I think I need to go find a firebending teacher.”

“But you’re a natural!” He said, trying to encourage her. She had made a lot of progress in one week. It took her days to nail the wooden gates, and she started on circle walking and basic airbending forms. But flying… flying was way out of her comfort zone. She’d done extreme sports before, but this wasn’t surfing or elephant koi riding. This was plummeting to your death over a populated city.

“The wind will carry you.” He explained. “It supports this spirit inside of you, even lighter than air. And that spirit takes over when you fly.”

“I think I was born without that spirit.”

She looked back over at her two other friends sitting on the sidelines. They usually were off training by themselves or exploring the city, but today of all days they decided to come and watch the show.

“Don’t you two have anything better to do?” She asked them.

“Nope.” Bato told her flatly, taking a bite out of a kebab he bought at the market that morning. The air nomads didn’t eat meat, and they hadn’t gotten used to it yet. _I don’t eat leaves; I’m not a fucking rabaroo_ were his exact words upon finding this out; nearly every day they’d sneak into town and break their strict diet, and the restaurants in the city below were more than happy to help. Today he was being much more brazen with it, but the monks couldn’t punish him since he wasn’t an airbender.

“I wanna be here to watch you kill yourself.” He told her while he chewed, to which Gin smacked him in the arm.

“Hey, what was that for?”

“Be supportive.” She hissed at him.

“You almost made me drop my meat!”

“You’re a pig.”

Turning away from the bickering and back to her friend, he gave her a nod and unfurled his glider. Aang walked over and stood next to her at the edge of the platform. “You ready?”

“No.” She said meekly, and with shaking hands she opened up her glider too. He took a few steps back to get a running start and she followed his lead. They both simultaneously ran off the platform together, putting their hands on the wings of the glider and tucking in their legs toward the back. She couldn’t help herself and screamed as she plummeted downward out of control at first. She desperately tried to orient herself, trying to catch the wind, and after tilting the front of the glider upward she finally did it. The scream turned into nervous laughter and finally shouts of joy as she rode the air current upward, her stomach fluttering with the sudden change in altitude, and oriented herself to be level with her friend.

“I can’t believe I’m flying!” She turned to her left and shouted to him as they circled around the walls of the temple.

“Just make sure you keep your mouth closed so you don’t swallow a bug!”

She almost couldn’t help herself, feeling the rush of adrenaline and sheer joy as she soared through the air. She felt…free. It was nice to feel like the weight had been lifted off her shoulders, literally. Their flight was short, just making sure she got the basics, and Aang showed her how to safely land herself. She closed the glider and walked over to her friends, now clapping and standing up.

“You know, things have been kind of weird with me lately, and I don’t think I ever apologized to both of you for the way I’ve been acting or from that incident. I’m sorry I drug you both into that, and I’m sorry I’ve been moping around all spring. But I just… I really feel like things are going to get better now.”

She wasn’t really sure where this was all coming from, but she held out her arms toward her friends, and they smiled and had a big group hug. 

“Come on over,” She said to their new airbender friend. “You’re part of the group too.”

* * *

After a few weeks, Zuko and his uncle had finally settled into their routine. Get up early, go to work, go home after dark, go to bed. Every day. He thought serving tea would be easy; he was trained from birth to run a county. Standing on your feet without a break for hours on end, dealing with bitchy customers without getting yourself fired, and getting paid next to nothing was making this job harder than he expected. He couldn't afford comfortable shoes with the meager pay, and his less than charming personality did not help him get tipped, so he just had to suck it up and suffer. 

The city itself wasn't exactly charming either. Their apartment was in a less than ideal part of the city, where you had to watch your back at night. It was true what they said, the Air Nomads accepted all, including the thieves, rapists, and cutthroats who were also forced out of their homes. He considered joining them for a time, but there was no one in this city worth robbing, and he wasn't eager to get into trouble. Besides, he could barely find the energy to get himself home after his shift; he certainly didn't have the stamina in him to go running around the city at night.

Today was the same as always: get up early, put on the stupid uniform that reeked of tea by this point not matter how much he washed it, and go to work. Early in the morning, he served three gentleman who looked too well dressed to be in this shop, but it wasn't his business to pry. He tried to talk as little as possible and just keep his nose down. He moved onto the next table he needed to bus, but he noticed the two he served got up from their table and walked over to his uncle, who had come out front to grab one of the pots.

"So you're the genius behind this incredible brew! The whole city is buzzing about you. I hope Pao pays you well."

"Good tea is it's own reward." He answered simply.

"But, it doesn't have to be the only reward. How would you like to have your own tea shop?"

"My own tea shop? This is a dream come true!"

"What's going on here?" Their boss finally overheard and came over to break the two up. "Are you trying to poach my teamaker?"

"Sorry pal, but that's business, am I right?"

 _He can't be serious._ Zuko continued about his work, just keeping his nose down and pretending like he wasn't listening.

"Mushi," Their boss begged, "If you stay, I'll make you assistant manager. Wait...senior assistant manager."

"I'll provide you with a new apartment, and the tea shop is yours to do with whatever you want. Complete creative freedom."

"I even get to name the shop?"

That seemed to be the final straw, and with a bow his uncle accepted their offer.

"Did you hear that, nephew? This man wants to give us our own tea shop!"

"I'll try to contain my joy." He mumbled, and went outside for his break and to get some air. It was good news, he supposed. His uncle had always loved tea making more than warmongering and politics. He wasn't very suited for ruling their nation, just like every had always told him. But now he felt like his uncle was dragging him down too, making him work at this place and stay in this city. All arranged by him. It was like he was trying to steer him in his own direction, and it made him abandon his search for the Avatar and his thoughts of going home. It sucked, honestly, to think he might be doing this for the rest of his life. He grew up the Prince of the most powerful nation of the world and the only prospect for his future now was serving tea to Earth Kingdom peasants. But now it was time for him to go back inside and finish the day; that was probably what their boss would expect of them. In the meantime, maybe he would finally get a day off to rest.

* * *

The trio and Aang had made a new tradition of dining together for breakfast each morning, which consisted of fried bread, vegetable soup, fruit, and hard-boiled eggs with hot buttered tea. All of the air nomads ate together in one large dining hall, sharing their meals on long stone tables that were as old as the abbey and sitting cross legged together on cushions. There was a table at the end of the hall that was only for the eldest monks, but their cuisine and seats were no different than what everyone else had. Breakfast was served at sunrise each morning, after which the airbenders began their daily training exercises. Everyone reconvened for lunch and dinner as well, making the whole Air Temple feel like one big family. The meals were simple, but for the travelers who had been away from home for so long it felt like a feast each day. It had taken them a while to get used to not eating meat at almost every meal, but Air Nation food really wasn't that bad. Each meal was sounded by a large bell in the dining hall that served as a dinner bell; the monks would blow a gust to ring it once each meal was prepared, and the whole temple would reverberate with the deep bell tone. It also served as an alarm bell each morning, waking everyone with the sunrise.

This morning was the same routine as had been for the past four weeks. Kai was awoken in her simple bedchamber by the chime. She waited for her friends outside of her chamber, and once they emerged from the rooms next to her the three headed into the dining hall together. The trio arrived at the dining hall and sat next to Aang. Bato served the four of them tea, bending it out of the pot and into everyone’s cup, while she bended soup into everyone’s bowl. Normally they didn’t bend their food, it was considered rude, but the airbenders loved their tricks and thought it was fascinating, so they did it mostly to entertain them. This morning, one of the monks from the head table finished eating early and approached the group.

“We received these letters for you.” the monk said, handing Gin a stack of scrolls.

“Thank you,” she said, nodding her head to the monk before opening her mail. The first two she opened was from her mother, who told her about how life at home was going. The third peaked her attention.

“This is from my brother. We haven’t heard from him in a year.” She explained, eagerly tearing into it. “He says he’s stationed at an Earth Kingdom base in the south and that they’ve heard I was travelling with the Avatar. He wants us all to visit him!”

“That’s great!" She said with a smile across the table from her friend. "I’m so happy he’s doing well.”

“Well, Kai can’t go visit, but do you want to take a trip down there together?” Bato asked her. “There isn’t really much for us to do here while she’s leaning airbending, why don’t we take a trip down and help with the war effort for a week or two?”

“You guys should go for it.” She said. “None of them have ever seen a waterbender before, so they could at least appreciate a new sparring partner.”

“My brother is an earthbender too. I can’t wait to tell him I can bend metal, he’s going to lose it.”

“I can fly you down on my bison if you want.” Aang said. “I don’t really need to be training with Kai, I already have my tattoos. Let’s take a mini-vacation, just the three of us.”

She saw Gin slightly cringe at the thought of flying across the continent, but they ultimately agreed to go together. The monks gave them rations to last them a week of travel, and that morning they were off while Kai stayed behind.

It had been about a week since her friends had left, and she had used the time to stay focused on her training. Airbending had come fairly easy to her; after five weeks, she had become decent at it. Her time there had been extremely peaceful and meditative; not only was this the nature of the Air Nomads, but this had been the first time she had a secure living space in many years. At the Air Temple she wasn’t constantly running from the Fire Nation and she didn’t have to hunt for food just to get by, she could just relax and be introspective without having to worry about her own survival. Her stay there had brought her a lot of inner peace; as her inner nature began to change, so did the environment around her. The once snowy mountains around the temple had now flourished giving rise to thousands of wildflowers, crops were planted in the fields below, and the warming air brought frequent spring showers. 

Although she had meditated more often and more successfully than she had before after the monks guided her how to do so, she had not been able to enter the Spirit World since mid-winter. She had tried to contact her past life so that they could speak again, but had little success. She desperately wanted to speak to him again, and she hoped that by continuing her airbending it would strengthen her connection to him. 

Today was not a day for meditation. The monks had laid before her a ring of bamboo in the courtyard and had given her a wooden staff. She stood in the center, the stalks surrounding her on all sides. She channeled the air around her through the staff, kneeling it and spinning it around her body and over her head to create a slicing current in a circle around herself. The technique had been difficult to do with her hand and a single piece of bamboo, but today she was pleased when the air cleanly cut the bamboo surrounding her on all sides. The tops of the shoots fell onto the ground around the perfect circle, hitting the ground in time with each other.

The two monks precising over her training today seemed impressed, inspecting the cleanly cut bamboo around her. She stood up and spun the staff in her hand, eventually propping it up on the ground.

“Not bad, young Avatar.” Monk Gyatso commented, walking around the circle of bamboo.

“Your air stream was not perfectly horizontal; the bamboo was not cut at the same height within the circle.”

“Yes Monk Nyima, I’ll keep working on it.” She said, bowing to the monk by cupping her left hand over the fist in her right. The first monk picked up one of the pieces she had cut, inspecting the cleanness of the slice.

“Barely any frayed fibers. A clean cut all the way through on every one.” Monk Nyima threw the piece in his hand straight at her, giving it a blast of air to send it sailing right at her head. She reflexively caught it in a swirling ball of air, stopping its momentum before it could hit her.

“And you have the reflexes of a master airbender.” She smiled after hearing his comment and bowed to him as well. Both monks bowed to her in return, signaling the end of the exercise and her training for the day. She began walking back to her room to mediate privately before dinner, but Monk Gyatso stopped her after the other had gone.

“I have heard you are having difficulty communicating with your past lives.”

“Yes, I have been.” She admitted. “I have only spoken to him once, and my only time in the Spirit World was accidental. Every time I’ve tried to go back it hasn’t worked. Am I doing something wrong?”

“I think it is time you pause your training and seek spiritual enlightenment. Some Avatar have more of a spiritual connection than others, but by doing so you should be able to reach the Spirit World more easily and be able to go in and out of the Avatar State at will.”

“What is the Avatar State?”

“The Avatar State is when you are at your most powerful, allowing you to channel vast amounts of cosmic energy. Your eyes glow, and you have access to abilities you may not have learned or mastered yet. Does this sound familiar?”

_Yea, unfortunately._

“I think I’ve done it a few times, but never on purpose. It always just sort of…happened. And I never remember what I do afterward; I black out and go on a rampage.”

“It is a defense mechanism that is activated by danger or anger. By learning to control it, you will become a fully realized Avatar along with mastering the elements. But it is also when you are at your most vulnerable: if you are killed in the Avatar state, then the Avatar cycle will be broken, and you will not be reborn.”

“I see.” She said, trying not to think too hard about it.

“I know of a guru that lives in the mountains surrounding the temple. You should take a few days off and pay him a visit. He can help you learn to control it.”

“I’ve had a lot of problems with control, and it made me really disappointed in myself when I hurt people. I think I'll give it a try."

* * *

After a week of flying, the trio landed at the secret southern Earth Kingdom fortress. It was well protected and hidden in the mountains southwest of Omashu; finding it even with a map was difficult. The fortress itself was quite sizable; it was circular with an outer retaining wall to protect the soldiers inside with a central tower. There were smaller buildings along the inside of the retaining wall that served as barracks and hospitals, but there was also a small temple for meditation and a recreation area. The courtyard was divided into quarters, each with an elevated path leading toward the central tower with four lower courtyards for training. Aang landed them down in the upper courtyard located near the top of the tower. They were greeted by General Fong, the commander of the base, with his men at standby behind him.

“Welcome, friends of Avatar Kai.” He bowed to them with his hands behind his back, his soldiers doing the same. “You are all great heroes, and we look forward to your stay here."

The trio bowed back in return. “I apologize that the Avatar couldn’t come with us.” Bato explained to the general. “She’s learning airbending at the Northern Air Temple now, and she couldn’t interrupt her training.”

“No matter.” He waved the thought away. “We need all the help we can get in this war, and I have heard tales of your accomplishments. Come, we will show you around the facility and have your belongings brought to your rooms.” 

They descended the tower and fanned out around the perimeter, visiting each of the buildings in turn. Down in one of the lower courtyards there were groups of soldiers being trained as they walked past. One caught his eye; she was dressed in plainclothes, and she was leading a group in a drill that involved metal fans. He was mesmerized as he watched her lithe figure stepping through the fluid motions of the form, the soldiers mimicking her movements behind her. She didn’t even turn her attention away from her practice to deign them a passing glance, keeping her attention solely on the weapons in her hands.

“You’ll find the finest troops in the Earth Kingdom stationed here.” The general spoke to their group as he hurried them along. His legs felt like they were made of lead as he forced himself to catch back up with his friends and leave the sight of her behind.

“Yea, she is.” He mumbled to himself.

The General gave them the rest of the tour then showed them to their quarters to unpack. They were thrown a feast that night, and they got to sit at the officers table. In the meantime, Gin had met up with her older brother Chen and the two were seated together to his right along with Aang. He had risen to a corporal in just one short year; he was a talented earthbender like his sister and lead a group of wounded men out of a tense firefight, returning to the battlefield even when he was ordered to leave to make sure everyone got out, which got him promoted. You could definitely tell the two were siblings; they both had the same stocky figure, button nose, freckles, and that cheery, awkward smile. The only difference between the two were their height and hair; he kept his black hair short and cropped and sported a goatee and was well over six feet tall. The other soldiers filed into the mess hall, led by the other lower commanding officers. General Fong directed them toward the head table, and he saw that girl again. She approached the head table, and he nearly died when she sat down on the other side of him.

He always got all of his girl advice from Kai. It was one of the perks of having a friend that was your opposite gender; every time he had a question about how to act around a girl he always talked to her about it first, and she always talked to him about the men in her life in return.

_She’s not here this time; I have to play it cool. Just be casual._

“Hey there.” He said, leaning back on his chair flashing the young captain a smile. “Bato, Team Avatar.”

“Very nice to meet you.” She said politely, bowing her head slightly.

“So… you’re a captain!” He noticed the rank on her uniform.

“You have something to say about a captain who’s a girl?”

_Shit, shit, shit._

“No, no!” he said, waving his hands in front of his face, trying to seem nonthreatening. “I think it’s great. I’m the one that trained the Avatar in waterbending, it’s not a problem to me.”

“You’re a waterbender too?” She seemed to perk up, raising her eyebrows and cracking a beautiful half smile.

“Yea, I am. You know,” he said, leaning his arm on the table so he could be closer to her. “If you want, I could show you a couple of moves, since you’ve never seen a waterbender before.”

“Ugh, like what?” Gin piped up next to him. “What are you going to do, splash her?”

“Do you mind?” He turned around to her, annoyed by her interruption. “I’m trying to have a conversation here.”

“My apologies, great waterbending master.” Mocking him, she bowed her head dramatically in her seat. He huffed and felt his face getting hot, then turned back around to the pretty captain. Trying to regain his composure, he put his elbow back onto the table and tried to stay nonchalant.

“You know, it looks like we’re going to be in town for a while. I was thinking, maybe we could…do an activity together?”

“Do an activity?” She asked, turning back to him with a slightly confused look on her face.

He could feel his face turning red, and he quickly stuffed a huge mouthful of food from his plate into his mouth to buy him time so he could try and think of a good response.

“Very smooth.” Gin whispered in his ear, touching him on the shoulder. He swallowed and coughed a little bit, realizing he probably ruined the moment and his chances at talking to her again. She had a blank expression on her face, seeming a bit shocked by his comment, but eventually she sat back in her chair and relaxed.

“Come by tomorrow morning at sunrise, in the courtyard. Let’s see how good you really are."

* * *

"Thank you so much for receiving us here. I'm afraid our Sky Bison was killed, and the journey has left us so weary."

The trio of ladies bowed deeply to the monks sitting in front of them, putting their foreheads to the ground. It had been all too easy to steal the uniforms from the airbenders they ambushed, and the monks were so gullible. The hearthrobbing story she fed them was a simple lie: they were refugees from the Eastern Air Temple, seeking shelter and guidance from the monks. They barely even asked them any questions, or asked them to demonstrate any airbending. They didn't even have their tattoos, and just made up a lie that their training had been interrupted with the war. She hated the scratchy simple robes and having her hair down and just tying the end; it was horribly impractical in a fight, but that was no matter. It had worked like a charm and they were in; the first Fire Nation people to ever penetrate the Norther Air Temple.

"I heard rumors that the Avatar was staying here." She mentioned, kneeling on her knees and straightening her back. They were just rumors, but it was all she had to go on at the moment. No one had seen the girl in over a month, not even the best spies. The lack of progress was starting to get annoying; she had been so easy to find, but so hard to keep finding. No wonder Zuzu had difficulty doing it.

"She was." One of the old men responded. "She has recently taken a leave to visit a local guru."

 _So the rumors are true, after all._ That was good, her first lead in quite some time. It pays to be smart, and patient. She wouldn't even need to go after the girl, just wait until her prey came back to the Temple to fall right into her trap like a fly in a spider's web.

"That's a pity. I was hoping to meet her."


	8. The Guru

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys just for this chapter I want to put on an abuse and gore TW out there. Just want you guys to know what you're getting into.

Another beautiful spring morning. The flower shop next to the Jasmine Dragon had a fresh shipment in, and Zuko could smell them from his room on the second floor as he began to open his eyes from a peaceful night’s sleep. It was still early morning, the sunlight just peeking through the curtains. The city around him was still just waking for the day, the streets quiet and still outside his window. He could lay there forever, enjoying the tranquil morning, but he had responsibilities that he couldn’t ignore. Working for his uncle was much better than their old boss and getting this nicer apartment where he had his own room was nice. He finally understood what his uncle had meant a few months ago when he said there is a simple honor in poverty. He didn’t have to worry about where he could and couldn’t go, staying up late at night to parse over maps to try and track down the Avatar, training incessantly just so he could have a hope at taking her down. It was nice to take a break from the stress that had plagued him for years; it was nice to even have a bed again and warm food, both of which he had missed in his more recent exile. This life certainly wasn’t ideal, but it was peaceful. It had taken time, but he was starting to adjust.

He got up out of his bed, pulling off the blanket and walking over to his dresser. He finally had clothing again, that was another luxury he had missed. Most of his wardrobe were uniforms for the shop, but he didn’t mind. It was better than what he wore around the Earth Kingdom, and it was lot more comfortable than the armor he wore around his ship for years to look intimidating to his soldiers. On the inside of the dresser door was a mirror, and he examine himself for a moment before he reached for his clothes. Going without food for a week at a time had made him lose weight and muscle, and he was still working on gaining it all back to look like his old self again. He examined his shoulder, the one Azula had shot. The scar was diminishing and healing, now only a faded pink patch where the painful red mark used to be. The Avatar’s healing had done wonders, making it heal much quicker and scar less than his eye had. He hadn’t noticed it at first, but after seeing himself in front of a mirror again he realized a few other scars had gone missing. The place Azula had scratched his cheek in their previous fight was gone, along with a few other scratches and minor burns on his face and torso.

_She knows how to pay back her debts, I’ll give her that._

He ignored it for the time being and pulled out the uniform for the tea shop, got himself ready, and went downstairs into the shop to start the morning chores before they opened. His uncle came down late and was dressed simply, not in his usual uniform that was only slightly more elaborate than his own.

“Nephew, I’m taking the day off from the shop today. Do you think you can run things while I’m gone?”

“Are you sick?” He put down the tray of. “I don’t think I’d ever hear you say you wanted to take a day off from tea.”

“Today is Lu Ten’s brirthday.”

Zuko wiped his hands on his apron. “I understand. I can hold things down.”

Iroh bowed his head to him and left the shop for the day. It was a typical quiet morning, but it was the first time he had ran it by himself. His uncle usually brewed the tea himself, but this morning it fell to him. Heating the tea required extremely precise temperatures, and his uncle had taught him to control the flames with his bending to be just so. He still wasn’t nearly as good at it as his uncle was, but he could manage for one day. Besides, uncle would probably be back late afternoon, so he could get his help with everything then. Things started picking up around noon, as they did every day. Since he was shortstaffed in Iroh’s absence, the lunch rush was even busier for him than usual. It was a good thing, too; that girl was back. She came almost every day and always ordered the same thing, smiled, thanked them, gave him a good tip, then left. Iroh said it was because she liked him; he had noticed her too. He figured it was because she knew who they were: a man his age with a scar like he had? Not many people fit his description. Eventually he had to make his way out front and bring out a few pots to the other server working. He would have preferred to avoid her all day like he usually tried to do, but she had other plans.

“Thank you for the tea.” Today, she wanted conversation. She came up to the table and paid, and he gave her a nod. He turned around, trying to go about his business as usual, but she wouldn’t let him go.

“What’s your name?”

“My name’s Lee.” He turned back around to speak with her. “My uncle and I just moved here.”

“Hi Lee, my name’s Jin. Thank you, and, well, I was wondering if…”

He didn’t quite hear the rest of her sentence, if she even got it out. The shop was packed, but everyone had gotten up from their tables and were crowded by the door and front windows, peering out onto the streets. One of the other servers ran past the two, and he grabbed his arm.

“What’s going on?”

“It’s the Avatar! She’s in the city!” He said excitedly, pointing to the front door. He let him go to run over and get a look, and Jin finally left him alone to join the crowd while he snuck out the side entrance and into an alleyway adjacent to the shop. He leaned against the side door and looked out into the street. It was just as crowded as his shop; everyone in town had stopped what they were doing and lined the streets like a parade. He stayed in the dark alleyway and leaned against the door and waited, figuring she must have already gone by, but he finally caught a glimpse of her. She was riding her massive white dog down the street, so she was visible above the crowd, and her dog had stopped for a moment to sniff the flowers at the shop across the street. When the mob around his shop started cheering when she stopped, she flashed them a big smile and a wave. He even caught himself smirking as he looked up at her joyous face, her nose scrunching up as she grinned over the cheering crowd in front of his shop.

The flower shop owner came out and, after realizing what great publicity it would be, handed her the bouquet her dog had been sniffing. She looked embarrassed, smiling as she took them from him. The two had a quick conversation that he couldn’t overhear in all the noise, but it looked like he refused to take her money. Instead of paying him she bowed, clasping her left hand around her right fist. It looked like she was about to leave and continue down the road, pulling the bouquet away from her dog’s nose and into the crook of her arm, but her dog put its nose up in the air and sniffed again. It lowered its head toward the alleyway and stared straight at him. He quickly went through the door he was leaning against and back inside the shop, not wanting to be noticed and exposed.

 _I wonder if she would even recognize me if she saw me._ He questioned nervously standing on the other side of the door. He dressed completely different than the last time they had seen each other, than he ever really had before. 

_My face is probably too recognizable to forget_. He stood still for a few more minutes until the cheering outside had died down. The Avatar must have moved on. He returned to his business, picking up a dirty dish rag from the kitchen and got back to work.

 _It must be nice to be pretty and perfect and have everyone love you_. He angrily threw the dirty rag across the room and into the trash. That’s the way it used to be for him before he was marred. A Prince wasn’t supposed to walk anywhere outside of the palace, he would always be carried in a palanquin around a raucous crowd. He used to be the pride of his nation, the heir to the throne. He put his hand on the bridge of his nose, trying to remember that things could be much worse, that he had a home, a job, and food. But things could be so much better; that should be him being cheered, he was royalty, he was better than this.

That night he decided to sneak out and try his luck. The thought of her being this close was driving him insane. He knew she was in the city, but where? He waited until his uncle was asleep and snuck out, donning his old black clothes, the swords, and the mask. She knew who he was, but he could at least try and scope things out without her noticing him.

 _If she’s here, she’s probably been living with the monks at the temple_. He figured it was a good place to start, even though he had seen her on her way out of town that day. He climbed out of the apartment window, running along the rooftops as far as he could. Climbing up the mountain would be much more difficult; it was only meant to be traversed by airbenders. There was a very thin road that lead up to the temple, and it appeared unguarded. He was careful to stay out of the light, slowly slinking up toward the temple. There were sections that had to be climbed by hand as he went further upward. After finally making it to the top, he discovered that the temple was surrounded by a steep retaining wall. In the moonlight, he could see that some of the wall was shorter than other portions. He walked along the thin ledge of stone between the wall and the cliff, finally finding a section that he could climb up using his swords. After getting to the top, he found a safe rooftop to hop down on and made his way in between the buildings around the temple.

“….Guru Pathik?”

He hid behind a wall as he heard two footsteps walking toward him.

“Yea, the monks told her to go visit him.”

“I’m gonna miss her waterbending the tea, it doesn’t taste the same now. That guy’s awesome though; have you ever been to Laghima’s Peak?”

“A few times.”

“I’ve heard its very spiritual…”

He lost the rest of the conversation, but he had all he needed. He waited until the two young airbenders passed before left the way he came in, making his way down the retaining wall and back down the thin road. He was almost at the base when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around, drawing his swords to face whoever was following him.

“So, the Blue Spirit.” He heard in a familiar voice, and the old man showed himself from the shadows. “I wonder who could be behind that mask?”

He sighed, putting his swords away, taking off the mask, and revealed his face to his uncle. “What are you doing here?”

“What are you going to do once you find the Avatar again?” He seemed annoyed, which was rare for him. “Should I invite her over to our shop for a cup of tea?”

“Well, first I’d have to find her, but I know where she is now.”

“And then what?” He shouted. “You never think these things through. This is exactly what happened when you captured her during the storm. You had her, and then you had nowhere to go!”

“I would have figured something out, I was this close!”

“No! If she hadn’t been kind enough to help us, we would have all drowned!”

He was trying not to get angry with his uncle, but he felt like he was about to explode. “I know my destiny, uncle.”

“Is it your own destiny? Or is it a destiny that someone else has tried to force on you?”

“Stop it uncle.” He turned his back to him. “I have to do this.”

“I’m begging you, Prince Zuko. It’s time for you to look inward, and begin asking yourself the big questions: who are you, and what do you want?”

In his anger he raised his arms above his head and slammed his fists down with two blasts of fire with a shout. He hated this, he hated his life here, he was tired of living like this. He had always known that it was his destiny to destroy the Avatar and win this war, like his father and grandfather and great grandfather before him. He wanted the certainty back, he wanted his honor back, he wanted to go home.

The two walked back silently to the apartment halfway across town. Uncle was right; this was useless. He wasn’t thinking this through; he was so caught up in the fact that he knew her location that he didn’t realize the impracticality of getting her all the way back to the Fire Nation. It was making his head hurt just thinking of fighting her and losing again. She learned another element too; she was even stronger than before. It was over.

“You made the right decision, Prince Zuko. Let the Avatar go; it’s the right thing to do.”

It was nearly morning before they got back, almost time to get up for work. That was the last thing he wanted to do right now; the mild headache from before had turned into a full-blown migraine. He thought he was just tired from being up all night, but as soon as they opened the door the room started spinning. His ears started ringing and fingertips felt fuzzy, like he was about to pass out.

“I don’t feel good.” He put his hand on the windowsill to steady himself, barely registering that he knocked over a vase. The shatter of the porcelain sounded like a dull thud rather than a sharp crash. The windowsill couldn’t support him as much as he thought it would, and his hand slipped off.

“Zuko!” He heard his uncle cry out as he fell down on the wooden floor, everything going black.

* * *

Kai rode up the beautiful mountainside, in full summer colors. It was the first time in forever that she put aside the training clothes and put on her usual shirt and pants, and it was the perfect day for a stroll up the mountain. The monks had given her a location on the peak to meet the guru, and she followed the winding path upward toward the top. After a nice hike, she encountered a man in meditation who she presumed to be the guru.

“Um, hello?” She said to him, dismounting from Koda. The dog was more than happy to sniff around without her; she always went crazy for flowers. She loved floral and earthy scents; she always figured it was because she was raised on the barren tundra. The guru sat upon a rock that jutted out of the mountain above the path, deep in meditation.

“You’re Guru Pathik, right? The one Monk Gyatso recommended?” She climbed up the mountainside so that she could speak with him more directly on his perch.

“Indeed.” He replied, finally breaking his meditation.

“They told me you could help me gain control of the Avatar State?” She sat down in front of him.

“You must first gain balance within yourself before you can bring balance to the world. And the first step to bringing balance begins with this.” He brought a hand behind his back and grabbed a wooden bowl and handed it to her. “Drink up.”

It looked like some sort of poultice that you would put on a wound, and it smelled like one too. But she followed his instruction and took a sip. She wrinkled her face at the taste but didn’t want to be rude, so she tried to down as much as she could stomach.

“Very bracing.” She commented, putting it down after only a small sip. “What is it?”

“Onion and banana juice.” The Guru excitedly told her, taking a bowl of his own and drinking his fill. Once he was finished, he become more serious once again. “In order to master the Avatar State, you must open all of your chakras.”

 _I was worried he was going to say that._ Opening chakras was much easier said than done. It was a long and painful process, and even dedicated monks fail to do it.

“Kai, tell me everything you know about chakras.”

“They’re swirling pools of energy located around the body. My people use the energy flow of the body to promote healing, so I know where to find them. I can manually loosen the energy up when I heal and promote the flow, but I know that’s much different than forcing it open. I know my healing works much better on those who have their chakras opened, but I’ve never done it myself.”

“Yes.” He said approvingly with a smile. “The waterbenders studied the flow of energy in and outside the body. These swirling pools of energy give you physical strength in the form of bending, but they also promote your spirituality. By opening them, you will be a better healer, a better Avatar, and increase your connection to the Spirit World.”

She nodded, and he stood up and signaled that they go for a walk. “What you may not know, is that each of them has a specific purpose, and each can be blocked by a certain kind of emotional mark. Be warned: opening the chakras is an intense experience.”

“So I’ve heard.” She told him.

“Once you begin, you cannot stop this process until all seven are open.”

She nodded, a little nervous, and followed him into a little cave within the mountain. He instructed her to sit across from him, and they began.

“The first chakra to open is the Earth Chakra.” He told her. “It is located at the base of the spine. It deals with survival and is blocked by fear. Lay out your fears before you.”

She had gotten better at meditation in her time here, but this one was going to be the worst of the seven and she knew it. Bracing herself, she cleared her mind and was transported back into her past once again.

“No, this is wrong.” She saw herself, so young, pleading with her old master in the same dark room she had visited a hundred times. Picturing it in her mind, she could still hear the screams of animals that her master had forced her to control.

“We have been over this!” her master insisted, her temper rising. “Now that you have practiced on animals, it is time for you to practice on people. You must detach yourself from your morals.”

“I’m not doing this anymore.” Her voice cracked as she pleaded with her mentor.

“Perhaps you need to be reminded of the power this technique can hold.”

Her master raised her hand upward, and Kai’s posture stiffened. Her master bended the blood in her body and forced her through the air toward her, her feet dragging along the floor. She could do nothing but be controlled like a puppet, her master contorting the strings.

“I could stop your heart, you know.” Her master cooed in her ear, cupping her hand and squeezing to mimic her beating heart. “I can feel it, feel it beating in my hand. How life is so precious, and so precarious. I could end your miserable little life, and who would even miss the cursed witch who killed her mother?”

She wanted to scream, to cry, to do anything. All she could do was move her hand, just a little, trying to regain some control. 

“How dare you fight me, you little bitch.” The old woman snapped, seeing the movement. “After all the help I gave you, after defending you, after taking you under my wing?” Her right wrist bent backward, slowly, painfully, and she heard the sickening crack as bones broke and dislocated. Her cries were silenced, her master not even allowing her to do anything besides feel the pain. All she could do was let the tears stream down her face. After her master had her way, she released her and let her fall to the floor. Kai scrambled toward the corner in fear, clutching her broken and swollen wrist, trying to get as far away as she could.

“Here.” Her master grabbed a flask of spirit water from the desk. She had never used it before, it was only for special situations, but with this much damage it would be the only way to hide her injuries quickly. “Heal yourself.” She threw the vial at her, letting it fall to the floor in front of her. She reluctantly let go of her hand, now bleeding profusely as the tip of her arm bone poked through the skin, and bended the water out of the vial.

“If you tell a single soul about this, I will destroy you.” Her master warned her as she mended the broken wrist, reconstructing the splintered shards of bone and severed veins. “If you refuse to be taught by me then you are dismissed, permanently.”

This scene faded away, and she saw herself again. She was back on that ship, when she had been captured by Zuko. It was after she had passed out, and what she couldn’t remember: she had entered the Avatar State. She saw herself, eyes glowing, teeth clenched, hair soaked and stuck to her face. She saw herself downing the ships that were tailing them, bending the ocean like she was the spirit of the moon as she commanded it to swallow the fleet. She commanded the storm to subside and the ocean to part and let her pass. The Prince came onto the bow of the ship where she was, and she his face twist in horror as she stared him down.

“Clear your mind of these visions.” The guru told her. “Let your fears flow down the creek. These visions cannot hurt you.”

She took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled. Her master was long gone; she couldn’t hurt her any longer. The Prince was no threat; she was amending that mistake now by mastering the Avatar State. The images disappeared, and she opened her eyes.

“Congratulations, you have opened the first Chakra.”

She felt like she’d been asleep for days; her bones ached from sitting and her eyes felt heavy. How long was she in meditation for? Was it hours? Weeks? Days? She was suddenly hyper aware of the sweat and tears running down her face, and she wiped them away with her hand.

“Can I have some of that banana and onion juice now?” She asked, realizing her mouth was parched and her stomach empty.

* * *

Zuko saw himself as he always wanted to, sitting on the throne of fire. He overlooked the throne room and the soldiers at his disposal, bowing down to him in respect. He looked like the Fire Lord that he had always wanted to be, with elaborate maroon and gold silk robes, an unscarred face, and proudly wearing the crown of his nation in his long hair. Two dragons began to coil around the pillars next to him, intertwining themselves on the throne.

“It’s getting late.” The blue dragon told him. “Are you planning to retire soon, my lord?”

“I’m not tired.” He told it as it brushed against the back of his neck. As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he could feel his eyes getting heavier, wanting to rest from the long day. Being the Fire Lord was a lot of work; a lot of sleepless and late nights. He should ring for his servants and go to sleep. He was no use to his nation if he wasn’t well rested.

“Relax, Fire Lord Zuko.” The blue dragon gently reminded him, urging him to unwind. “Just let go; give into it. Shut your eyes for a while.”

He was so exhausted now as he strained to stay focused on the throne room.

“No, Fire Lord Zuko!” The red dragon urged to his right, and the urgency in its voice forced him awake. “Do not listen to the blue dragon. You should get out of here right now. Go, before it’s too late!”

No; there was no danger here. He was the leader of his great nation, loved and adored and accepted. He was at home here.

“Sleep now, Fire Lord Zuko.” The blue dragon cooed. He slowly began to close his tired eyes as the throne room grew black and began to crumble around him. The throne melted into the black abyss, and the soldiers in front of him fell to reveal they were just armor statues. He snapped back awake, trying to figure out what was going wrong, and he saw the glow of the blue dragon’s eyes in the blackness.

“Sleep, just like mother!” It opened its maw and lunged at him.

He woke up from the fever dream with a start. He felt like he was boiling hot, and the sheet was soaked in sweat. He tried to move, to get himself more comfortable, but his body utterly betrayed him and wouldn’t allow him to move. Uncle was sitting next to him, trying his best to comfort him.

“So thirsty.” He managed to croak out with his aching throat. He felt like his mouth had been stuffed with cotton, barely scratching out the words as he spoke them.

His uncle got up from sitting next to him and walked over to the other side of the room, grabbing a wooden bucket of water. He sat up as much as he could so he could drink, his uncle ladling it to his lips. He grabbed it from his hands and drank the whole thing. He threw the wooden ladle aside and grabbed the wooden bucket, spilling most of it on himself as he drank as much as he could. He threw that aside next, laying back down and turning his face toward the wall. The water he spilled on himself was cool to the touch, and it made him shiver and seize up to try and get warm again.

“Get under the covers and sweat this out.” His uncle explained, and it was all he could do to try and get back under the blanket. He felt like his body was on fire and encased in ice all at once and every muscle was strained and sore; this was the worst illness he’d ever experienced.

“You should know that this is not a normal sickness, but that shouldn’t stop you from enjoying tea.” His uncle poured him a cup. It smelled like plain green tea, simple and soothing. He was still too weak to get up, so his uncle put a hand under his head and lifted, holding the cup for him to drink from.

“What’s happening?” He asked, still disoriented from the nightmares and disturbed by what his uncle said.

“Your critical decision, deciding to let the Avatar go, it was in such conflict with your image of yourself that you are now at war within your own mind and body.”

“What’s that mean?” All this talking and thinking was taking its toll on his consciousness. He laid back down and closed his eyes.

“You’re going through a metamorphosis, my nephew.” He could feel a cold towel at his forehead, dabbing the sweat away as he faded into sleep. “It will not be a pleasant experience. But when you come out of it, you will be the beautiful Prince you were always meant to be.”

* * *

After the first chakra was opened, the guru took her to a little mountain creek. The snowmelt had made the river swell, and the rushing water made the perfect backround noise for meditation. 

“The second Chakra to open is the Water Chakra. It is located in the sacrum. It deals with pleasure and is blocked by guilt. What do you blame yourself for?”

Kai closed her eyes and meditated. One particular memory came into focus.

“The day I found out that I was the Avatar.”

She saw herself, after she had been found by the sages on her birthday. They had taken the two waterbenders back to the ship that they had arrived on and separated them. The sages and Master Pakku wanted to speak to her first on the bow, while the Chief spoke to Bato in private.

“But how can you be sure it’s me?”

“We were suspicious when you were younger,” One of the sages explained. “Whether you know it or not, you have a great deal of spiritual energy that surrounds you. There were other candidates of course, but we examined them before and after your…departure, but they fell through.”

“You knew my whole life?” She was in complete shock. There were a million questions she wanted to ask, but there was one at the forefront of her mind. “Why wouldn’t you let me learn how to fight?”

One of the other sages spoke up next “Since you wouldn’t have known until you were sixteen, we would have had to make the exception for all the women. We thought it best that you led a normal childhood.”

“Because that’s such a terrible idea? Letting women do what they want?” She could feel her temper beginning to rise.

“Perhaps if you had stuck around instead of running off like a child then I could have taught you.” Master Pakku spoke, annoyed. She always hated his nasal, condescending tone. “But your poor decisions and clear lack of patience have angered all of us. We are sending you away to the South Pole to be taught.”

“You still refuse to teach me? Even now?” She stood up from where she was sitting, her anger that she had repressed continuing to boil up to the surface.

“By leaving your marriage and your position and for learning to fight without our permission,” Pakku continued drilling her, “you have completely disrespected our teachings and our entire culture. You are not welcome as my student, and you are no longer welcome at the North Pole.”

“Fine, I’ll go with Bato to the south.”

“You most certainly will not.” The Chief came onto the bow of the ship from below deck, a tall surly man with a sharply angled face like his son, with Bato not far behind. “My son will not be associating with you any longer.”

“Dad, I’m the one that broke the rule.” He pleaded with his father. “I taught her waterbending. If you’re that upset, then be fair and just banish me along with her.”

“Bato, I have had it with you!” he said, turning red and facing his son. “You are coming back north with us, and you are going to face your responsibilities like a man. It is your duty.”

“No, it’s not.” He was much calmer that what she would have expected him to be as he implored his father to listen to him, just once. “Can’t you see what all of this has brought us to, our family and our people? You’re banishing the Avatar from her homeland, and for what? To make a point? I’m not being complicit with this bullshit any longer; I’m ashamed of what my Tribe is doing, and I’m not going to be a part of it.”

In hindsight, that was really big of her friend. He was the Chief’s only son, his only child, and from birth he was set up to inherit everything. He would have been the leader of the North and South, and he wanted to give it all up because it wasn’t right.

In front of all the others, the Chief slapped his son across the face. Kai hadn’t been around his family that much, and she didn’t really know the Chief and his wife very well. She had no idea if that had been the first or the hundredth time that Bato had been hurt by his father. But seeing it made something inside her snap. She completely lost control of herself. Once again, she saw herself outside of her body. She created a tornado as her eyes glowed and she rose into the air. The wind nearly blew the waterbenders off of the deck of the ship as the water around her swirled. The beachgoers watched as the sand whipped up in the frenzy, and the little waterbender girl they knew became a terror.

Suddenly, her friend approached. He came from behind his father and walked over to the Avatar, swirling in a tornado. She gave him a terrifying look, but he paid it no mind. He wiped his now bloody lip and reached upward, taking her hand in his. Slowly, he pulled his friend down, and hugged her.

The aftermath of her outburst was quick. She remembered seeing the faces of those that had trusted her in the Fire Nation, all afraid now, and they told her it was best if she left. The Water Tribe had showed her no mercy and gave her some money and a small ship to send her on her way. Her best friend had just lost everything too, his father banishing him too, and it was all her fault.

“You must understand that these things happen.” The guru said. “We cannot always control our emotions or our circumstances, but looking back and learning from them is the best way to move forward and grow. You must forgive yourself, and let them go.”

The people of the Water Tribe had every right to bee scared of her. She fought hard against the stigma of having Koda and the death of her mother. She was never meant to fit in to the perfect mold they expected of her. She was different: she was the Avatar. And all of those people who were ashamed of her were gone now. She had always struggled with the customs and traditions of her tribe, but that was in the past and she needed to look forward toward the future. She took a deep breath and expelled that night from her mind. She exhaled and opened her eyes.

The monk lead to her to the top of the peak for the third chakra. She had been with him for nearly a day now, and as they meditated this time the sun began to rise over the horizon. “Third is the Fire Chakra. It is located in the stomach. It deals with willpower and is blocked by shame. What are you ashamed of, and why are you disappointed in yourself?”

That one was easy to figure out. “I hurt someone.”

When she closed her eyes, she went back to that night on the ship once again. She saw herself lifting Zuko into the air, like her master had made her do to so many innocent animals. Seeing it again made her feel absolutely sick. She was disgusted with herself; she hated being a puppetmaster. She’d fought so hard to not become that person and lost so much of her sanity, but it still happened.

“You will never find balance if you deny this part of your life. Do not let this technique prevent you from being a waterbender or hinder your bending abilities. You are the Avatar, and you must defeat those that stand in the way of peace."

It was hard to distance herself from this vision. Every time she tried to clear it from her mind, she saw his face distorted in pain. She took a deep breath and saw another vision; when she discovered the identity of the Blue Spirit. She saw his face, calm and asleep. His black clothing and hair stood out so brightly against the snow in the moonlight. She saw him again, this time after Azula had hurt him, after they brought him to the hut so that he could rest. He was shirtless, both of his scars visible and glaring, but his face still and calm as he slept through the pain. She did the best she could to make it up to him, although it hadn’t turned out the way she planned. She kept his calm, sleeping face in her vision, exhaled, and opened her eyes.

“You have opened the third chakra. I could tell it was difficult for you; it opened less like a flowing creek, and more like a burping bison.” He remarked with a smile.

She responded with a belch. “Tastes like onion and banana.”

The two looked at each other and chuckled before getting up and moving to the next location.

* * *

“Ok tough guy, let’s see your stuff.”

Whatever Bato had said at dinner got her attention. It was a shame she was about to kick his ass. He casually mentioned that he used to train with a spear, but he hadn’t done it in years, and she latched onto that. He weighed the thing in his hand, a lot heftier than what he was used to. The spears of the Earth Kingdom were slightly longer with metal edges, while the Water Tribe had mostly used bone. He spun it in his hands and faced the point toward her, and they began.

She unfurled her dual metal fans and came rushing. He waited until she was just the right distance, about a body length away, and faked a thrust forward. She had been expecting it and raised the fans toward her midsection, but he sideswiped at the last second. He brought the blade behind his body and slashed at an angle toward her right, forcing her to stop her conquest straight forward to defend herself from getting smacked on the head. He retraced the spear to thrust forward again, but she was too quick. She pulled the fans away and grabbed it, snapping the wooden pole with a hard hit from the retracted fan. Without the pointy end, all he could do was throw the remaining piece in his hand at her, but she grabbed it before it could make contact with her body.

“It’s been a while.” He admitted, and that made her smile.

“That’s what they all say.” She teased, walking over to the water barrel to sit down and get a drink. Being the devil he was, he waited until she got close enough, just leaning her face over the top to scoop some out into a cup, and he made the thing erupt on her. The water splashed out of the open lid and drenched her face, forcing her to take a few steps back in confusion.

“You’re a sore loser too!” She snapped back at him, her short brown hair still dripping as she yelled at him. 

“Who, me?” He pretended to confused, pointing to himself and looking around the camp. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She stammered to try and formulate a response, pissed and soaking wet. She was wearing armor, so there was nothing visible through her clothing that she had to worry about.

“Going to change.” She told him finally, and stormed off in the direction of the officer’s quarters.

Before she could go too far, he retracted the water that he had spilled on her to get her dry and walked over to where she was standing. 

“There.” He told her, keeping his tone soft as he approached her. Now that he was closer, he could she was blushing as she stood there, frozen, staring at him. He tilted his head to the side and looked down at her for a moment, but quickly broke it and sat down on the bench. He picked up the cup she had dropped, wiped off the dirt on his pants, bended more water out of the barrel to fill it, and handed it over to her. She finally softened her posture, giving him a little smile, and took it.

“Are all waterbenders jerks?” She asked him before taking a drink.

“Yes,” he admitted and gave her another smirk, “Why do you think there’s only two of us left? No one can stand us.”

The joke was in poor taste, and it showed in her expression. She lost the smile and looked away for a minute as a silence fell between them.

“Can I ask something personal?” She turned her attention back to him. 

“Sure.”

“How…exactly did you end up surviving? No one’s seen the Avatar in a hundred years, and they’ve hunted waterbenders the whole time."

A fair question, but a complicated one. He laced his fingers together and looked down at the ground. There wasn’t really a quick or easy explanation for the whole thing that he could give her.

“I’m sorry.” She said, realizing that it crossed the line.

“No, it’s ok.” He told her and looked back up. “Kai and I were outcast from the Water Tribe. Our boat overturned in a storm, and she froze us for a hundred years. We weren’t there when Sozin’s Comet arrived.”

“I can’t even imagine how hard that is.” She told him, and finally sat down on the bench to his left. “Your people and your family are gone, and you couldn’t help them. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be.” He turned and told her. “If we were there with them, we would have been slaughtered too. It was hard to accept it all at first, but if it never happened, I would have never been able to make a difference in the war. And I never would have gotten to meet Gin, or…you.”

Kai would have been proud of him for that one, and it did the trick. She deeply blushed and tilted her head away to try and conceal it. He still didn’t know her well enough to do anything besides flirt with her, but this trip was going to be a lot more fun than he had anticipated. He loved how headstrong she was, she wasn’t afraid to defend her ground and throw it right back at him.

“Now, oh powerful Captain Suki.” He pleaded to her, clasping his hands together to pretend like he was begging. “May I please fight you with water instead of a spear so that I don’t embarrass myself again?”

That sweet smile returned to her face, and her green eyes lit up.

“Sure.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, this was a long one. But I want to take a little opportunity to clarify something that I probably should have a while ago: why I decided on changing Katara to Kai and Sokka to Bato. The short answer is that it's my story and I do what I want to. But when I was thinking about what Katara's life would be like if she had never lived during the war, I realized how much of her personality and her decisions revolved around the war. That's totally fair to write a character like that, and I'm not going to argue that she's written poorly in any way. But that makes a Katara that has never experienced war a very different person. If her mother was never killed by the Fire Nation and she grew up in a patriarchal but more structured society (as opposed to the crumbling Southern Water Tribe), she would be a very different character. That's why I tried to get at with this, and that's why I gave her a new name and different backstory. She has the same strength and headstrong personality as Katara, but that would have been frowned on without growing up in war rather than encouraged without it.  
> As for Bato, I still wanted him to be the Chief's son like Sokka was, but I wanted him to be an only child. I just think in this instance it works better, but that's my humble opinion. It's probably because I can't write good sibling relationships, but that's not the point. Again, Sokka would have been such a different person without losing his mother and his father all at once, and if he'd really been a proper prince.  
> Anyway, enough of me. If you've managed to keep reading this far the I applaud you for liking my ramblings. Stay safe, kiddos.
> 
> -nein


	9. The Fire Princess

Once again, Suki was humiliating Bato. They'd made a friendly habit of getting back at one another during their morning practice sessions together. Never anything serious, it was all in good fun, and admittedly he was pretty happy that she still wanted to practice together after the first day. Yesterday he tripped her up when she turned her back to him, and today she was making him fight with fans. He'd never used them before in his life, and she was showing him a few basic forms.

"You just step through the footwork." She explained, showing him an offensive move where she stepped forward and slashed with the fan. "Want to give it a shot?"

"Sure." He nodded, and she took up a defensive position and unfurled her own metal fans. He clumsily unfolded his own, and struck forward. She moved his forearm to the side with her own, leaving his chest wide open. She reached forward toward him with her other hand, but he saw it coming. He stepped backward, avoiding her, and used the fan to smack the hand that she attacked him with. She quickly winced and recoiled, grabbing the hand he hit with the fan.

“Oh, hey, are you ok?” He quickly folded the fan she had given him and put it on his belt. He hadn't actually expected to land a hit on her, and she seemed just as surprised.

“I’m fine.” She insisted, shaking her hand out. “Just wasn't expecting it. It’s just a scratch.”

“Here, let me see.” He held out his hand toward hers, and she reluctantly gave it to him.

“It’s nothing, it’s barely bleeding.” She insisted once again, keeping her eyes on the scratch. He bended the water out of the canteen on his hip and wrapped it around his opposite hand, pressing it against hers to heal it.

“I’m not very good at this.” He admitted, keeping his eyes down on his work. “Kai, the Avatar, she’s way better. This is about all I can do.” 

He let the water drip off her hand as it took the blood with it, sealing the wound until it was no more than a faint pink scar. 

“That’s incredible.” She said softly, keeping her eyes down on her hand. Suki was a straight shooter, she was a good warrior, a fantastic teacher, and after a week of getting to know each other, a friend. Gin seemed to like her too, even if she spent most of her time with the other earthbenders. 

The two just stood there for a few moments as he rubbed his thumb along her new scar on her hand. She had the rough, hard hands of a warrior rather than some dainty lady. He never liked girls like that: the ones that couldn’t defend themselves, wanted him to fight all their battles for them, wanted him to defend their honor and crap like that. If only the war was over and they both had time, he would love to get to know her better. For now, this was probably all he was going to get.

“Bato!” His attention was suddenly turned away from her and toward Aang, who had come up behind them. A little annoyed that the moment was ruined, he rolled his eyes and turned around. The airbender looked grief stricken, and there was an urgency in his walk as he came over to the two.

“What’s going on?” He asked him, and Aang closed his eyes and turned his head away.

“Something bad is going to happen at the Northern Air Temple. We need to leave.”

“Ok.” He replied, still not quite sure what was going on. But he’d never seen Aang this upset, so whatever it was it must be pressing.

“I have to go.” He turned back to Suki, letting her hand go so he could follow Aang out. To his complete surprise, she put her hand on his shoulder, reached up, and kissed his cheek.

"Go." She told him. He could feel his cheek getting hot, and she had to reiterate it before he turned around to leave.

He couldn't stop thinking about it the entire ride back to the temple. It took a few days, but they flew with such a hurried pace that Aang barely gave them time to rest. He kept saying something about a vision, that the temple was going to be destroyed. Visions usually weren't something to brag about having; maybe it was an airbender thing. Either way, they hauled ass back there in record time and immediately requested a meeting with the monks. It was late when they arrived and called the emergency meeting, well past dinner. The monks told them Kai had left to find a guru, so she wasn't there to greet them when they got in. 

“See?” He gestured to Aang as they monks showed them into the meeting room. “Everything’s fine. The Air Temple is still all in one piece.”

“But…in my vision, I saw it burning to the ground.” The three sat down as the monks mulled it over.

“Aang,” One of the monks chimed in, “Visions can mean many things. They aren’t always literal, and sometimes they don’t come true at all. The future is always changing, flowing like a river.”

“I suppose.” Aang looked down at his hands.

“There are few who have such a spiritual connection that allows them to witness visions of the future.” One of the other monks told him. “You were wise to trust your instincts and return home. But there is no danger here.”

After they dispersed, he figured he’d take a walk around the city again. He’d come to like his walks downtown to grab street food while Kai was busy. It had been a long time since he felt safe enough to just walk down the road by himself; most of the little Earth Kingdom villages they visited had their wanted posters posted in the town square. That didn’t stop them from going in, but he always had to look over his shoulder.

He found himself wandering down one of the nicer cobblestone roads in one of the better parts of town. A nice little tea shop had just opened up by the looks of it, with a freshly painted golden dragon motif above the doorway. It looked inviting enough, and he could go for some tea after the long journey before going to bed. He walked in through the open doorway and waved to the greeter.

“Table for one, please.” He told him and was returned with a slight bow. Before he followed him to the table, he froze in the doorway.

“Uncle, I need three lychee and one jasmine.”

“I’m brewing as fast as I can!”

He recognized the voices immediately; thank the moon and ocean they didn’t seem to notice him. They were too caught up in their work to look toward the front of the shop and notice their enemy had just marched into the tea shop. He ran out of there as fast as he could and back up the hill toward the temple. He had to warn them. Aang had been right. The Fire Nation was in the city. It took him long enough, but he finally ran into a trio of monks walking up the mountain toward the entrance of the temple.

“Hey, wait!” He called out to them. They stopped and so did he, putting his hands on his knees as he caught his breath so he could gasp out the story.

“Help me get to the monks…the Fire Prince is in the city… have to warn them.”

“My brother is in the city, is he?” Hold on, he recognized that voice. He didn’t remember seeing the female monks around here before, but she sounded very familiar. And her brother… oh no. He figured it out too late. The acrobat turned herself around, and with a quick series of jabs it was all over. She got to him before he could even bend the water out of his pouch to fight back. It was dark now; no one would have even seen him fall on the dirt path as the three ladies surrounded him. 

“It sounds like its time for a little family reunion.” The Princess chided, and the two girls tied his hands together and hauled him off.

* * *

"The fourth chakra is the Air Chakra." The guru informed her. This time, he had taken her to one of the higher peaks of the mountain. Not the tallest one, but it allowed her to feel the wind flowing over. "It is located within the heart. It deals with love and is blocked by grief. You have suffered a great loss.”

He was right about that one. She saw herself back in her home in the Northern Water Tribe, inside of her little house. Her family was not wealthy; her father was a fisherman, and his job kept him away from home most of the time. With her dad gone so much she took up most of the housework and cooking. She still needed to feed and clothe herself, after all. The house was furnished simply, just the way she remembered it: it had a circular, central room that housed the fire with two cushions on the floor for dining. Furs lined the floor and walls to trap in as much heat as they could, with their sleeping bags tucked away from the fire for the time being. Today, it wasn’t empty when she got back; her father had come home.

“Kai.” Her dad said as she came through the door, getting up from his seat on the floor and giving her a warm hug. He had already started dinner by the time she got home, the smell of his famous five flavor soup filled the house. “What’s the matter, koalaotter, everything ok?”

“Just a long day.” She responded, rubbing her wrist. It was still a little swollen and sore, but it healed nicely. That spirit water really did the trick.

“Well, I have excellent news!” He told her with a smile, going over to the pot that he was stewing over the fire. “You have a marriage proposal.”

“I do?” She sat herself down next to the fire. “Well, who is it?”

“That’s the best part. It’s your friend, Prince Bato. The Chief came down here this afternoon and we made all the arrangements. He said he wanted the best of the best for his future daughter-in-law, and that all the healers say that you’re a prodigy. He was really impressed with you. I’m proud of you, kiddo.”

Getting a proposal from the Chief’s son wasn’t much of a proposal; it was more of a mandate. All marriages were arranged, but this was one she couldn’t say no to or ask them to reconsider. Not to mention, their family wasn’t in any position to say no; it would be considered very rude if she refused.

Her dad handed her a bowl of soup from the pot, and all of the sudden her hand just didn’t work properly. She though she’d healed it enough, but as soon as she went to grab the bowl it just fell out of her hand and onto the floor. She didn’t realize how shaky her hand was, and she rubbed her wrist again to try and calm herself down.

“I know you’re probably having some pre-wedding jitters.” He said, sitting down next to her. “Everyone does. But look at the way your life is turning: the best healer in the North Pole recognizes your talent and is having you stay late for extra lessons. The whole village sees how incredible you’re doing. You’re the best in town at what you do, and you’ve never let what people have to say about you keep you from doing it. It’ll all be ok.”

“No, dad, it’s not ok.” She could feel her face getting hot as tears started to well in her eyes. “I don’t want to do any of this anymore. I don’t want to get married.”

“I know things have been rough since mom died." He sighed. "I wish she was still here; she’d know what to say. I guess every parent wants their kids to have more than what they grew up with. This is the best thing I could have done for you, koalaotter; I know its sudden, but it’ll work out. You’re going to have someone taking care of you now.”

After her father had gone to sleep, she made her decision. She packed up her sleeping bag, a few supplies, and went outside. She called Koda over, who always slept next to the house, and they bounded down to the harbor. She found the nearest fishing ship and began to move her things on board.

“Hey!”

She turned around and saw her best friend, dressed in his elaborate royal purple getup. Back then he kept his hair short on the sides in a wolf tail; having short hair looked so odd on him, looking back. She had no words for him. There was no way she could explain everything all at once to him and have him understand.

“I was walking down by you place, and I saw you run down here.” He admitted, coming over toward the edge of the pier.

“Look please don’t take this the wrong way but I can’t marry you. I’m sorry.”

“I wanted to talk to you about that. I don’t want to get married either.”

“Really?”

“Yea. I just don’t want to get married at sixteen.” He was fumbling around with the gloves in his hands as he spoke to her.

“You’re not mad at me?” She asked him, tentatively. This was going to look really bad on him; that his fiancée ran off and refused in such a dramatic way. Not only that, but if they ever figured out he let her go he would never hear the end of it.

“No, I get it.” He said with a nod and looked back up at her. “Stuff’s been rough for you here. You’ve never really liked what you do; go off and do your own thing for once.”

After she set her belongings down on the ship, she went over to the dock and gave him a hug. She did love him, but not in a way that would have made their marriage work out. He was the one that had always been there, before and after mom died. He didn’t care about the whispers about her mom’s death and about her having Koda. Never seeing him again was going to be the hardest out of everything.

“Where are you going to go?” He asked her, breaking off the hug.

“I don’t know, but anywhere is better than here. Maybe I’ll go somewhere warm; it’ll be a nice change of pace.”

“Why don’t I come with you?” He offered.

“I can’t ask you do that.”

“Neither of us have control of our lives here. If you leave my dad is just going to marry me off to somebody else.”

“Probably Hama.”

“Ew, don’t even joke.” He wrinkled his nose slightly, but with a smile crossing his face. 

They chuckled about it for a moment. After that, they both packed everything up and left. Bato went back home and took his belongings and his old waterbending scrolls, and Kai went back to her old master’s hut and stole the water from the Spirit Oasis.

“Everyone’s going to think we eloped.” She watched the pearly white gate slowly fade out of view from the bow. Koda had settled down on the deck of the ship.

“Let them.” He told her, adjusting the ropes.

“That was the last time I saw the Northern Water tribe.” She told the guru. “That was the last time I saw my father.”

“Although you have difficulty accepting the traditional aspects of your culture, that does not mean that you were the cause of its destruction. You ran away to better yourself, and you didn’t know it yet, but you did it to better the world; that is an admirable cause. You felt that you had to deny that part of yourself to move on, but the love you once had with them is reborn into a new form of love. Think of the new connections and friendships that you have made and cherish the ones you have from when you lived in the Northern Water tribe.”

It was a beautiful sentiment, and he was right. When she left, she felt like she had to completely reinvent herself. She cut up all of her old dresses, took down her hair, she made a necklace for herself. She even started wearing red and wearing her hair in a top knot instead of in loops. But she could be the person she wanted to be and still wear blue. She could still like Water Tribe food and be the Avatar. She didn’t have to bury all of those memories to move on.

Shedding a tear, she cleared the vision away and opened her eyes.

The next location he took her to was inside of the little cave from before. It was dark now as they walked in together and sat where they had a few days ago. Had it really been a few days already? It was so hard to tell how much time had passed in between her mediation sessions.

“The fifth in the chain is the Sound Chakra, located in the throat." The guru informed her once they had positioned themselves. "It deals with truth and is blocked by lies; the ones we tell ourselves.”

The vision that came to mind was the first time she’d met Gin. She lied when Gin asked if she knew the Avatar, and that night around the fire she asked again.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were the Avatar?” She asked, sitting next to the fire outside of her barn.

“I never wanted to be.” She answered.

“You cannot lie about your own nature.” The guru told her. “You must accept who you are.”

This one was fairly simple. It was harder to accept at first, but she was three elements into becoming a fully-fledged Avatar now. The past few months had been rough, but fun and full of unexpected challenges. All of her hard work would pay off eventually, and the war would end one way or another. She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled before opening her eyes.

The guru lead her back to where she had opened her Fire Chakra as the sun began to rise over the sky.

“The sixth is the Light Chakra," He told her as they sat in front of the early morning sunlight, "located in the center of the forehead. It deals with insight and is blocked by illusion. The greatest illusion of this world is the illusion of separation. Things you think are separate and different are actually one and the same.”

The only thing that came to mind when he brought up separation were the Four Nations.

“So, the Four Nations are really one?” She asked.

“We are all one people, but we live as if divided. Even the separation of the four elements is an illusion.”

Briefly, she thought back to her friends from the Fire Nation. She was still learning to waterbend back then, so they all practiced together like they were part of the same dojo. They always fought on the beach, when they could find a clear spot to practice without burning or soaking anyone passing by.

She saw herself, in octopus form, surrounded by Bato and their two good firebender friends. She kept her guard up, waiting for one to make a move. Finally Kuzon went, throwing blasts from his fist and feet. She moved the arms of the octopus to protect herself, snuffing out the fire. Ji moved in from the other side and she did the same, putting out the fire. Ji always had shitty form, so she wrapped a tentacle around her leg and pulled to knock her over. Bato was last, bending some of the water out of the ocean into ice shards. She caught them each in an arm, rotating the form so that new free arms faced her opponent as he continued the onslaught.

“Good.” Bato yelled over. “Keep up the motion.”

Kuzon got brave again and created a huge wave of fire from his hands, directing it downward above her head. She was forced to forego the octopus, bending the water above to protect herself from getting burned. She gathered more from the ocean behind herself and rode it over in an arc toward Kuzon, who threw a few blasts at her here and there. She had to stop herself for just a little to return with a barrage of ice to keep her aim steady, and that was when she was done for. Bato took the water right out from under her feet when she stopped focusing on her momentum, and she went crashing down onto the beach.

“Don’t ever stop moving.” Bato told her as he walked over to give her a hand.

“Not bad, waterbender.” Ji told her, picking herself back up.

Looking back on it now, she took in a lot from how they fought her. She learned how to waterbend on firebenders, no wonder she didn’t have any problems fighting them now. She always knew when their form was weak and how to exploit it, even if she wasn't a firebender yet. Not only that, but she’d picked up on some of the more aggressive styles firebending while she was learning waterbending. She hadn’t spent years learning forms like Bato had, so her style was very adaptable and chaotic compared to his. That was probably one of the strengths of being the Avatar: not only could she bend the four elements, she learned the style and culture of each as well and blended it all into one. She had friends from all four nations too, and they’d all fought together and practiced together. They really weren’t that separate or different.

* * *

Zuko was having a really good week. After he had gotten over his sickness, he felt like a new person. He felt like he had sweat out all the bad energy that plagued him for years. Now that he wasn’t worrying about the Avatar anymore, he could focus more on himself and what he wanted to do. For now, that was making his uncle happy. His uncle was ecstatic when they received an invitation to serve tea for the monks at the temple, and he had asked him to accompany him up toward the temple. They were some of the first outsiders to ever be allowed to visit one and his uncle had fret for days, trying to think of what to serve them and in what pot.

“What an honor.” His uncle said, holding the basket with their supplies as they were walked through the temple. “I imagined myself here before, but always as a conqueror. Now, we are the Air Nomad’s personal guests. Destiny is a funny thing.”

“It sure is, uncle.” He replied, marveling at the beauty of the temple as they walked through. They were escorted into a private sitting room not far from the entrance, and they set the table and waited for the monks to arrive. The room was rather small and unfurnished; it had no windows or natural light to speak of. The monks famously lived modestly, but this particular room was an odd choice to receive guests in. They poured the tea and waited. Nearly ten minutes went by, and still no sign of them. The tea was going to get cold. Finally, they were joined by several rows of men in robes, hoods drawn to obscure the face. One row filed in front of them, the other behind. 

_Why would the monks need protection like this? Something wasn’t right._ He hesitated to voice his thoughts, keeping his guard up instead.

“It’s tea time.” Another figure walked in, but her hood was lowered to reveal her face. He didn’t even need to look at her to know it was his sister.

“What are you doing here?” He demanded, standing up.

“The Air Nomads won’t be joining us today.” She informed them, examining her nails. “I’m afraid they have more important business to attend to. You’ve met the 31st division, right Zuko? They’re experts at covert operations, including sneaking into an Air Temple.”

He looked around at the hooded men and realized: the robes were just generic. They weren’t the standard airbender robes that he’d seen the other monks wearing at the temple. Their hands weren’t tattooed, either. It was a trap. She’d trapped him, again.

“Did I ever tell you about how I got my nickname, the Dragon of the West?” His uncle stood up next to him, holding a cup of tea.

“I’m not interested in a lengthy anecdote, uncle.” She told him dismissively. 

“Actually, it was more of a demonstration.” He took a slow sip from the cup, and Zuko knew what to do. He got behind his back as his uncle breathed fire in a circle, forcing the troops to back up away from them. Zuko blasted his way through the sealed door, and his uncle ran out.

He stayed behind in that little room, guarding the door.

“Get out of here.” He turned and told his uncle. “It’s time I faced Azula.”

“You’re so dramatic.” She chided as she walked forward toward him with her hands neatly folded behind her back. “What are you going to do, challenge me to an Agni Kai?”

“Yes, I challenge you.”

“No thanks.” She said, waving her fingers to the soldiers. He sent one large fireblast directly toward her, but two of the soldiers stepped in the way and redirected it around her to keep her safe. Two on either side of him threw metal chains out of their sleeves, which grabbed onto his outstretched arms. They quickly secured him and brought him to his knees as Azula turned around and walked out of the room.


	10. The Crossroads of Destiny

For the final chakra, the guru brought her to the top of Laghima’s Peak. The mountain apparently had a lot of cultural significance for the Air Nomands; the peak was said to be where another famous guru reached enlightenment. The sun was just beginning to set, and the moon and stars began to creep above the horizon. 

“Once you open this chakra, you will be able to go in and out of the Avatar State at will.” The guru explained. “And when you are in the Avatar State, you will have complete control and awareness of all your actions.”

“Let’s do it.” She told him.

“The Thought Chakra is located at the crown of the head. It deals with pure cosmic energy and is blocked by earthly attachment. What attaches you to this world?”

“My friends.” She replied simply, closing her eyes to meditate. Her family was long gone, and so were her people. She’d been with Bato since they were toddlers, and Gin helped her learn so much after she woke up. She hadn’t know Aang as long, but he was a great teacher, and she could tell he was going to be a lifelong friend as well.

“Now, let all of those attachments go. Let them flow down the river, forgotten.”

“Wait,” she opened her eyes again, breaking her meditation, “I though having love and attachment was a good thing? Why would I give them up?”

“You must learn to let go.” The guru insisted. “You must surrender yourself.”

“Ok, I’ll try.” She forced herself to let her friends go, and focused on the swirling energy of the sun, the moon, and the stars in the sky. It was an odd sensation, almost like she was standing in the ocean and feeling it push and pull her along as she watched the image of her friends fade away. It was a fine line she was walking; one thought of them and her concentration would break, and the feeling would leave her. It took all of her willpower to keep her thoughts steady and unwavering, and she felt another tug inside herself as she continued.

“Hey!” A shout called her away from her meditation. It was a temptation and she knew it; the universe was trying to distract her. She fell for it anyway, because it was a familiar voice. It was Bato, sitting in chains in a steel cage in the dark. She focused her energy on him instead, watching helplessly as he tugged at the bars. The gentle push and pulled turned into a hard shove, her concentration snapped, and she opened her eyes.

“My friend is in trouble. I have to go.” She told the guru, getting up from her meditation pose. Was that really the universe trying to trick her, or was that real? Something was telling her that it was real, and he was in trouble.

“By choosing attachment, you have blocked the chakra.” The guru warned her as she began to walk down the peak. “If you leave now, you won’t be able to go into the Avatar State at all!”

She stopped and pondered this for a moment. If she couldn’t enter it at all, then she couldn’t accidentally hurt anyone. There was no threat of losing control. She could unblock it and do this the right way later, but she needed to get back, now. She put her fingers to her lips and whistled for Koda. The dog didn’t take long to gallop over, and she rode hard down the mountain as fast as she could.

It didn’t take her long to reach the city proper once again. It was well past dark at this point, and the city streets were dimly lit with lanterns. She didn’t know where to go, only that she desperately needed to get back here. She must have followed the same route that she left the city, because Koda had to stop and sniff around a flower shop.

“Come on, baby, we can’t do this right now.” She groaned in Koda’s ear, trying to spur the dog on so they could keep moving. Time was precious, she knew that much. But the dog wouldn’t budge, stopping and sniffing all around. She eventually sniffed over to the other side of the street, and there was nothing Kai could do to stop her. It was her will against nearly a ton of dog, and the dog always won.

The shop across the street opened its door, and thin rays of yellow light from inside the building illuminated the street. She recognized the figure who came out of the door; the old man that followed the Prince around.

“Where is he?” She demanded, raising her fist toward him. She knew he must be around somewhere, but Zuko was hard to catch. He could be on top of a building, or in the shop, or down the alleyway.

“My nephew is gone.” He stepped out further into the street. “That is why I want to speak with you.”

“That’s not my problem.” She snapped back at him. This was probably just another trick, another elaborate trap that she couldn’t understand just yet. 

“He was taken away, by Azula.” So Azula was in the city too. This was supposed to be one of the last havens away from the war, and now it was completely overrun. Did Azula know that she was here, or was she hunting her brother? She probably did; who else could have nabbed Bato? Zuko could have, but if he was taken too then it must have been the Princess.

“My friend was taken too.” She admitted, and lowered her fist. “I don’t know by who or where he is. I don’t even really know for certain that he was… but I know something’s wrong.”

“Whatever you do, do not go to the Air Temple. She is hiding there, waiting for you.”

“All of my friends are up there!” She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Not even the temple was safe anymore.

“Please, come inside, and I will explain.” He motioned toward the doorway of the shop he came out from. She had a choice: run up to the Air Temple and make sure everyone was ok, or go talk to the old guy. If what he said was right, then she would run right into a trap. But if he was wrong, then Zuko or Azula were in that shop waiting for her. If the latter was the case, and this was the trap, then they probably would have already attacked. Besides, the old man never seemed like he had a personal vendetta against her like the other firebenders did. He fed her, bowed to her, and thanked her more than once. It was hard to trust him based on who he associates with, but he might have useful information.

She nodded, hopped down off of Koda’s back, and followed him into the shop. It was simple but nice inside, with little dragon motifs along the walls that matched the one outside above the door. 

“May I offer you some tea?” He asked, motioning to a pot and cups on one of the tables. Normally she’d refuse, but after days of only eating onion and banana juice, tea sounded really nice. She gave him another nod and sat across from him on the table as he poured.

“This one is a particularly good black tea,” he explained, “grown in the hills surrounding the city. You can taste how well the nomads care for it.”

“I hope this isn’t an insult, but you don’t need to waste your best stuff on me. I didn’t grow up with much, so I never became a tea snob. It all just tastes like tea to me.” That made the old man smile, and she returned it with a coy smile of her own.

“You sound like my nephew.” He told her with a chuckle.

She didn’t like being compared to that maniac, so she figured getting to the point was in order. “Do you think you know where they took him?”

“I’m not sure.” He admitted solemnly, looking down at his hands. “I know how you must feel about my nephew. But believe me when I tell you there is good inside him.”

“I think I’d like him better if the good was outside of him too.” She didn’t mean to sound so ungrateful, but it was the truth. Their conversation was interrupted when she heard some trash cans being knocked over outside the shop. 

“They’re here.” Iroh told her and stood up.

“No, that’s not them.” She sighed and rolled her eyes, going through the back of the shop and out a little door into an adjacent alleyway. He followed close behind her and they found the source of the noise: Koda was digging through the trash.

“Stop eating garbage!” She scolded her, pulling her dog’s nose out of the spilled refuse. It took all of her strength to do so; she was intent on sticking her head in it. She had taken a break from eating it to pull out a dirty rag, and she wanted her to play with it.

“That’s nasty, I’m not touching that!” She tried to tell the dog, but Koda wined and shoved it in her face. She tried to push the dog away, but she kept shoving it toward her.

“That rag doesn’t mean anything to you, does it?” She shoved her nose aside for the third time before turning and asking the old man.

“Not in particular. Zuko had a bad fever a few weeks ago; that was the sick rag.”

“Ugh, that’s disgusting.” She cringed and tried her hardest not to touch it. “So this was the sweat rag from his fever?”

“I don’t see how that matters, but yes.”

She shoved Koda’s head aside once again. “I think I know how we can find them. She’s a trained tracker; she can smell an arctic hare in its den from two miles out. That’s why she latched onto it. He must have a pretty strong scent she can smell that through the garbage.”

* * *

Bato felt like an idiot. He couldn’t believe that he had gotten himself captured, once again. They only bound his hands with metal cuffs, keeping his feet free. They confiscated his water though, so he didn’t have much of an idea of how he was going to get out of here, wherever here was. He hated to admit it, but he must have blacked out after what Ty Lee did to him. He couldn’t remember how he got in here, or how much time had passed in between his discovery and his imprisonment. He was alone and conscious for what felt like a few hours before two guards came in and Zuko in the cell across from his.

“Why did they throw you in here?” He asked him, waiting until the guards were gone. Zuko gave him a halfhearted glance before sitting down and turning his back to him.

“Let me guess? This is all a trap; so that when Kai shows up to break me out of here you can finally capture her?” He paced around in the cell, taking it out on Zuko for no particular reason. He didn’t respond with his usual fire, just sitting in his own corner and keeping his head down.

“All you ever care about is yourself.” He continued. “Don’t you see how nice and happy this place is, that these people can live in peace away from you? And you’re going to burn it all down for the sake of honor and glory. You’re disgusting.”

He still didn’t give him an answer. He didn’t even bother acknowledging him with a nod or by looking at him, and that made him even angrier.

“You’re not even listening to me, are you? Fucking figures. You don’t care what this war has put all of us through. What it’s put me through, personally.”

Shit, all of it was coming up now. He stood as close as he could to the bars so he could annunciate his point.

“You have no idea what it’s like to have your home taken away from you, to have everything and everyone you know taken away from you.” True, he had given it up. The Water Tribe had its problems, but he didn’t want it to be completely obliterated. As much as he denied it, he should have fought alongside his people when they were invaded. He should have died alongside his brothers and sisters when his home was burned to the ground. He shouldn’t be here right now. He shouldn’t be in this cell right now, either. He debated pulling on the chains or on the bars to try and force his way out, but it was hopeless. He just sat himself down, crossing his legs, and accepted it.

“I’m sorry.” Zuko finally said, turning around to him.

“Yea, you are sorry.” He snapped back.

“Did you know I was banished? Did she tell you that?”

“No?” He assumed ‘she’ was referring to Kai. Why did she not tell them that, and when did she figure that out?

“I don’t know what it’s like to have all of your friends and family gone. But I haven’t been home in many years. I know what it’s like to miss it and the way things used to be.”

This was probably the first time he’d ever really spoken to the guy, but from what he could tell he sounded sincere. He sounded sad and sorry, not much like his usual self. Then again, he really didn’t know him that well, and he was sitting in an iron cage right now. He sat and thought about it for a minute, and realized they had something else in common too.

“Did she tell you I was a Prince?”

“No.”

“It’s not like that title means anything now.” He mused to himself. “But I get it: I had a shitty dad who wanted me to do something I didn’t agree with in the name of duty. I said no, and now I’m here.”

He wasn’t going to ask why Zuko got himself banished, but if the Fire Prince got himself banished then it must have been a pretty big deal. He must have done something really bad; hell, his own dad wouldn’t even banish him even after he’d asked him to, he sort of just let him go after Kai freaked everyone out. Still, his dad probably wasn’t going to be happy with him when he came home, if the war had never happened. He would probably have disowned him for teaching a woman and named someone else on the council as his heir. Who would it have been? Pakku didn’t have any kids, and none of the sages did either. Maybe it would have been Hahn; that guy was always a dick, and he was a shitty hunter. Well, it didn’t matter now; all of them were dead. His thoughts were interrupted when the door at the end of the hall creaked open. He couldn’t see who came down the stairs until they reached the bars of his cell.

“I can’t leave you alone for a few weeks, can I?” Kai remarked casually. She leaned her hands against the bars of his cell and bent them so that they made a gap large enough for her to squeeze through.

“You know, I really missed that fucking attitude.” He retorted with a wide grin. Boy was he glad to see her.

She rolled her eyes and smiled before kneeling next to him, motioning with her hand for the cuffs around his wrist.

“This is the second time I’ve had to save you from the Fire Nation; you’re becoming my damsel in distress.”

“Shut up.”

The two slipped out between the bars, and she set to work breaking Zuko out too.

“Why are we busting him?” He asked her as she bent the bars on his cage.

“His uncle helped me break in; he’s watching the door right now. I’m returning the favor.” She motioned for his cuffs, and he gave them to her.

“How’d you find us?” He asked her.

“Hotman over here has a pretty strong scent. It only took Koda like an hour to track it down.”

“What?” Zuko asked her, looking a little bewildered.

“Wait, do you guys not say hotman anymore?” She stopped her work for a second to look up at him.

“No.” Zuko shook his head.

“Man, really?” He asked Zuko, leaning against the bars on his cell. “That’s a shame. Next you’re gonna tell me you don’t say flameo anymore either.”

“What does that even mean?” Zuko asked him, still clearly confused. Kai sucked her teeth in annoyance and finally broke his chains.

“We’ll tell you later.” She told him. “Come on, we gotta get you guys out of here.”

“Where is here?” He asked Kai. “I wasn’t conscious when they brought me in.”

“You’re underneath the Air Temple right now.” She explained, leading them both out. “They have a few holding cells; that’s where they threw you guys. Azula’s up at the temple with troops; I haven’t been up there yet, we snuck around to find you guys here. I’m not sure where Aang and Gin are to be honest, I wanted to get you out first. I was hoping they’d be in here with you.”

“They must be hiding up in the temple.” He told her. “Let’s spring them and blow this joint.”

They reached the door, and Kai knocked once. It was returned by three knocks, and that must have been the signal it was safe to leave. The door opened, and they slipped out single file. Zuko was greeted with a big hug from his uncle, which made him look a little awkward. The four went their separate ways: Bato with Kai up to the top of the temple, and Zuko stayed behind with his uncle.

* * *

“Hey Aang, have you seen Bato around?”

Gin had wandered down from her room toward the airbender's on a midnight stroll. She knew that he’d gone into town, but that was yesterday. She thought it was odd that he wasn’t at breakfast this morning, but she figured he’d gone out early again. It was getting late now, well past dark, and she still hadn’t seen any sign of him. She knew that she was probably worried for no reason, but something was bugging her about it.

“No, I haven’t.” He told her, sitting on the edge of his bed as she walked into his chamber. “But the monks seem to think everything’s fine, so apparently we shouldn’t be worried.”

He still sounded a little miffed about it. He had every right to be in her opinion; he was trying to look out for everyone there, and they’d dismissed him like a child who had a nightmare.

“I feel like something’s wrong.” She admitted. “I don’t know what the monks would say about that, but he’s been gone a long time. Maybe we should go look for him.”

“You think so?”

“Yea, come on.” She nodded toward the door. He grabbed his staff just in case, and they strolled through the temple to try and look for him. Bato’s bag was still on Appa’s saddle, none of his belongings had been unpacked since they returned. They were just about to fly out when they saw three monks with lowered hoods approaching the bison.

“The monks wish to see you immediately.” One of them said. 

“What’s going on?” Aang asked him.

“It’s urgent. Please follow us.” Another said.

“No.” Gin shouted, approaching the figure. “You’re going to tell us what’s going on right now. I’m sick of you and the monks being cryptic.” She usually didn’t snap like this, but she was tired. She was tired and her friend might be hurt or in danger, and Kai was still gone.

“Please,” the monk implored, “follow us.”

“Who even are you?” Aang asked as he hopped down off of Appa. “I’ve never seen you around here before. And why are you wearing robes like that?”

The trio of monks stayed silent.

“We’re leaving to go find our friend.” She told them, pointing her finger at the one in the center. “Tell us what’s going on, right now.”

“I’m afraid we can’t let you do that.” The left one told her, and without further warning he threw a metal chain from his sleeve. It wrapped around her outstretched arm and pulled, wrenching her toward him. She grabbed the metal chain just in time, tugging it with her other arm to pull him down. The other two tried to do the same to Aang and Appa, but they were thwarted by a blast of air from a swipe of his staff. More began to arrive as they kept these two at bay, some with chains and some with fire. She created earthen walls to block both, but the bison was afraid of the sudden fire blasts going off right next to its face and began to groan and back up.

Someone new approached the fray, blasting fire at the attackers and putting himself in between her and them. It was too dark to see who he was at first, but the fire illuminated his face just well enough: it was that old man that always followed the Prince around.

“Your friends are in the temple!” He shouted to her. “Find them and leave; I’ll hold them off!”

She didn’t trust him, but she didn’t really have much of a choice. It looked like the Air Temple was under attack. How could they have not known this was going on? How long had it been happening? At least her friends were around here somewhere.

* * *

Kai and Bato managed to make it up to the temple proper without any further harassment. She’d expected to be ambushed when she broke her friend out, or for Zuko to attack her, but it all went rather peacefully. She had to earthbend her way up the mountain and dragging Bato along for that ride was not pleasant for him. Koda stayed down near the base where she'd broken in; she didn't want to bring her into this mess. She broke a hole in the outer wall and the two snuck through into one of the outer training courtyards, surrounded on one side by a sheer cliff and the other with a building. They headed toward the building to check it, but a blast of blue fire interrupted their path. Right in front of them appeared the Princess, walking out from behind a pillar, pointing her index and middle finger right where the fire hand landed.

Bato sprung into action first, bending the water from a nearby drainage grate out a massive wave. He directed it over her head, which she swatted away from herself with another fire blast. He turned the steam back into the wave and struck again, and she responded with a larger fire blast to divert it all to steam. Kai attacked her next, breaking the ground beneath her feet with a study kick to try and get her to falter. Azula lept forward to avoid getting knocked down and ended up landing right between the two. She pointed her fingers at the two of them, looking back and forth at the waterbenders to see who would strike first. It was neither of them; a blast of red fire from behind them hit between the three of them. She turned around in surprise, and saw it was Zuko. He was alone, without his uncle or any of Azula’s troops as he walked over and looked at the three of them.

She watched his eyes dart back and forth between his sister and her, his fist still pointed in the center of the three. 

"I have plotted every move of this day, Zuko." Azula spoke softly to him. "Every move of this glorious day in Fire Nation history. But I need you by my side. Fight with me, and you'll restore your honor. You'll have father's love, and your birthright. Let's go home, together."

Azula sure knew how to manipulate. She didn't even know what to say to Zuko to try and convince him not to attack her. He had every reason to. Finally, his gaze settled on her, and she exhaled. She thought after all this, they really could have been friends. She’d healed him and broke him out of prison just now. And back there, they’d talked like everything was normal. But no, it wasn’t meant to be after all. He came after her, sending blast after blast, which she blocked with a wall of earth. Bato ran off and took on Azula by himself, pulling more water out of the storm drain.

It was as good a time as ever to practice airbending. She jumped on top of the little wall and through the air, spinning so that her feet send a wave of air downward toward him. He sidestepped out of the way, but now she was standing right next to him. She walked in circles around him, right next to him so that they were almost touching, as he tried over and over to hit her. Sometimes he would aim high and she would duck down, sometimes he went low and she would hop over it. Eventually he got sick of the game and sent out a massive wave of fire around his body. She had to jump backward to avoid getting singed, and even still she could feel the hair on her arm getting burned as the flames licked at the air right in front of her. She’d landed right at the edge of the cliff, and the had to wave her arms and lean forward to make sure she stayed on the platform.

He spouted long tendrils of fire from his hands next, thrashing them back and forth through the air to elongate them into a proper whips. He didn’t give her any time to recover, lashing them out toward her. She pulled the water out of her canteen to protect herself from getting burned just in time, but he came right back at her again. This time, she shot upward through the air and toward the center of the arena. Before she could tuck in her legs, he managed to burn one of them. She ignored the shot of pain for the time being, landing on both feet on the ground and causing shock waves to ripple out in a circle. It blasted him back into one of the pillars of the building nearby, giving her a split second to get herself back up. She looked down at the burn wound; it had burned a hole though her pants, and the skin was sore and beginning to turn red.

Azula noticed that she had gone down, and since Bato was closer to Zuko now those two went after each other. She had been so busy that she didn’t see that the arena was now surrounded by what looked like Fire Nation troops, pointing their fists at her as Azula stared her down. There were only a handful of them, but this was not going to be an easy fight to win. They were completely surrounded now, and the Air Temple seemed to have been completely evacuated. She pulled some water from the storm drain that Bato had been using, but most of it was gone now. She managed to get a little water, wrapping it around her hand and watching the spectators to see who would make the first move.

The Princess did something she wasn’t expecting. She put her right index and middle finger together and made an arcing motion with her arm, moving her hand from her face toward her core. She could see sparks of lightning trailing from her opponents’ fingers in the path that her hand swept. 

She quickly dropped the water she was bending so it couldn’t conduct the lightning, but by the time she realized what was about to happen it was too late. The Princess thrust her fingertips forward, aimed straight at her chest. In a panic she tried to defend herself by bending up a slab of earth from the floor, but when the lightning struck it blasted her backward violently. The sudden shock wave deafened her, the shattered earth cut her face, and in her panic and pain she was unable to control her motion or steady herself. It blasted her through the air, contorting her body sideways, and she struck a pillar on the nearby building. She heard a sickening crack, and her vision faded as she lost consciousness.

* * *

Everyone at the temple heard the explosion; Zuko turned around right in the middle of his own fight to see what had happened. The other waterbender abandoned him and used the water he had collected to propel himself over to her, catching her before she hit the ground.

Alongside his sister, Zuko approached the Avatar for the final time. He pointed his fist at her as he walked over to where she had fallen, ready to strike and keep her down. But something was wrong this time, something was different. She had a long gash above her eyebrow and several cuts on her arms that had begun to bleed. Most telling of all, a small trickle of blood came out of her mouth.

“Oh, how touching.” Azula chided. “The last two waterbenders, perishing together.”

“I thought you’d changed.” The waterbender said to him, his voice cracking as tears began streaming down his face. “She saved your life, twice, and this is how you repay her.”

“Kindness is weakness.” Azula retorted. “And the weak are destined to perish. You were too weak to save your people a hundred years ago, and now you’re at the end of the line.” She turned back to him. “Zuko, since you’re the one that’s been chasing them all these years, it only seems right that you get to finish them off. End it.”

No one moved. He looked down at the Avatar, her lifeless body still resting in the arms of her friend.

 _She saved my life three times, actually._ _In the prison, on the ship, and when Azula shot me._

"They've surrendered." He told his sister. "It's over."

That wasn't going to satisfy her. She had already taken the temple, that much he could see. How she disposed of the monks was a mystery to him, but she had won the day. But Azula never settled; she would want it all. She wouldn't settle for the temple and the Avatar when she could eliminate the last of the waterbenders along with it. Besides, the Avatar might still be alive. Father would probably want to keep her alive, right? She needed medical attention urgently if she wasn't going to be reborn into the Earth Kingdom.

“Restore your honor, brother, and come home a hero. We're this close."

“Do it!” the waterbender spat at him, mustering up all of his remaining energy.

He tried to think about what would happen if he did just that. He would never be able to speak out against his father, even if he did trust him as an advisor. And now that he’d seen the world, the damage the Fire Nation has caused, there’s no way he could be complicit in it any longer. Even if he was accepted, he would never get back his birthright. His father had probably already named Azula as his successor, and he would never be able to challenge her for it and win. He was never going to be the perfect heir that his father had wanted; that was Azula, not him. They would fight until the end of time, she would always try and tear him down, and she would come out on top and reap the reward. His honor had nothing to do with killing these two; one was probably already dead, and the other had surrendered. It wasn’t an honorable fight, and he wasn’t going to do it. What he really wanted was to be accepted back home, and that was never going to happen. 

_I can’t believe I let her manipulate me again._

He turned his gaze away from the two waterbenders and toward his sister. He saw her slight smirk fade as she saw the situation change, and he sent a blast of fire down by her feet instead to get her to back off.

“Get out of here.” He told the waterbender, who took the opportunity. He bended the water pooled around himself in a circle going outward, pushing back the troops that surrounded them before skating away. 

His sister started up her aggressive offensive, jumping high and spinning midair to send a massive wheel of fire toward him, forcing him to step back to block it. She continued with a volley of kicks, continuing to advance forward. He was nearly at the edge of the platform, the back of his foot only inches away from the cliff. He tried to gain more room, but he was too nervous to move his feet any further, instead sending a blast her way with his fists.

“I always expected this kind of treachery from you!” She screamed as she easily redirected it. She jumped high again, spinning and bringing a massive wave of fire downward with her leg. He redirected it around his body, but it was so intense that he was at the very edge, barely able to balance himself. He was right where she wanted him; she shot low, bringing her leg around and shooting a wave of fire at his feet. He lost his balance, falling backward off of the platform and into the clouds.

He stared back upward at the platform as he fell weightlessly through the clouds. The sun had just began to rise over the horizon, turning the sky a fiery orange as he stared up at it. He saw Azula come back over and lean her head down to watch him fall. It felt like forever, but after only a few seconds a hand reached out below him and pulled him downward. He landed safely with a slight thud on the back of one of the airbender’s flying bison.

“Are you serious? We’re not bringing him along!” It was that earthbender girl that they’d always traveled around with, shouting up at the airbender who was steering the bison.

“If we let him fall, he’d die." He shouted back to her.

He sat up and leaned against the edge of the saddle closest to the front where he had landed. The earthbender and the two waterbenders were sitting opposite him, both cradling the lifeless Avatar. The other waterbender barely even noticed him; he just held her head and sobbed, trying to wipe the blood away from her mouth and her forehead with his hand. He was screaming, completely hysterical; it was hard to watch. The earthbender was holding her hand and rubbing it with her fingers, trying to hold on to her friend one last time.

He looked back up at his sister, still standing at the edge of the cliff. He saw that she began to wind up, the lightning arcing around her body. He quickly stood up, trying his best to take a strong stance on the moving bison. She blasted a bolt down at them, and he caught it directly in his arm. He could feel the surge as he directed it into his body through his arm, down into his stomach, and then finally into his other arm. He quickly released it upward into the air, sending sparks flying around his hand and into the sky. The sudden absence of power as the lightning left him made him feel uneasy, and almost immediately he fell on his knees onto the back of the bison, unable to stand any longer. That was the first time he'd ever done that; if only his uncle had seen. 

“Where am I going?” the airbender shouted back to them, but neither could answer. The earthbender just stared blankly back at him, not even having the energy to fight his presence any further. 

“Go to the North Pole.” He turned around to the airbender, sitting at the edge of the saddle. The other two gave him a confused look, breaking out of their mourning for just a moment. “Doesn’t North Pole water have healing properties?”

“You’re right!” The waterbender lit up immediately. He quickly turned around and rifled through their bags on the saddle. After a few seconds, he procured a small vial, wrapped in old pieces of cloth. He opened it up and bended the tiny bit of water out from it. It looked like a little pearl, glowing softly as he moved it over her chest. It slowly entered her body, and the glow ceased. It looked like nothing had changed.

Except, it did. Her eyes softly glowed, just for a moment, and she gave a feeble cough. More blood flowed from her mouth, but it looked like she was breathing once again. The waterbender started to smile, crying tears of joy this time as he slowly wiped the fresh blood away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 4/28/20 update:  
> Hey everybody. So just want to give you all a heads up: I went to go write some more for the next book, only to discover that everything I've written since the end of January wasn't saved for some reason. The only older versions of the document that are available are from January. I'm not really sure how that happened, but I just lost three months worth of material. In light of that, I'm gonna be a little more sporadic with updates from now on. I don't think I want to quit since I still have some of it, but my motivation to rewrite everything is pretty low right now. Anyway, you'll see me again when I can manage to piece enough together. Sorry, but its out of my hands.
> 
> -nein


End file.
